Today I woke up tired as usual from a long night of chatting with old friends and emailing the principal from my school back and forth on game times and travel. When I got up, my mom, dad, and I went and worked out at the gym and then came home to a scrumptious breakfast of homemade granola. Mmm… it was tasty! When I opened my Streams in the Desert book, the verse that headlined today’s message was “For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. ” ~Philippians 1:29
This just rings so many bells for me, especially after being on a mission trip over the summer. I know that I didn’t get to go into the hard countries, but I did experience some things that made it hard for me, and not really suffered, but felt dry. I have talked about this before in my blog, I think, but the trip for me started in Hong Kong with the Lord showing me that he is in control and all sufficient. And then it ended in Nicaragua where I felt spiritually dry and far from God. That is what I thought at the time, but looking back it was not about me. I was there on that trip to not only serve the missionaries that were there, but mainly my teammates!
You see, they had been traveling together for a while month longer than I had. They were tired, worn down, and just emotional ready to be away from each other sometimes. So I was there to bring refreshment to them and be an open ear to their thoughts and experiences. I was also there to nurse poor Sarah back from an ailing experience, be an ear for Ryan and arms to comfort her while she kept replaying the event in her mind, also a mom for Kara as she wouldn’t drink water and was becoming dehydrated. A fresh face for Chris to see with a big smile and humor when it is needed for Sage! My role in Nicaragua was not for me to grow spiritually or to have mind blowing experiences with God, but for me to simply serve my teammates!
I was not ok with this while it was happening on the trip. I was being selfish in the fact that my teammates were hearing all the whispers and voices of God, and I was feeling nothing! I was feeling like I was suffering. But I do not think this is what Paul meant. Yes it is a privilege to trust in Him, but is also a privilege to serve next to some amazing people, and to suffer with them and for them to honor Jesus. Sorry I may be rambling on… but this verse just moved in me today. Also reading previous verses from Philippians 1: 6 “And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.”
Isn’t that verse just amazing!!! He will not just leave us after revealing something to us. He will continue to work within us until he comes back one day! Oh that great promise for those who trust in the Lord!!
Have a great day!!! Thanks for reading my rambling!
