Joel and I are in Powell River right now. He's doing an elective here to get some experience in rural family medicine. We'll be here for the rest of September. I decided to come with him even though I'm bored that's a whole lot better then being lonely. I think that the kids have also adjusted to the transition better then they would have adjusted to being without Joel for a month.
Overall I'm happy to be here but it's been a bit challenging because we've been without Christian community. Consequently I think that my devotion has wained a bit. I think that this is probably because I'm not doing any sort of active ministry or active sacrifice. I don't have anything in my immediate environment that I need to trust God for because I'm not in a position where I am doing anything that I can't do on my own strength. Clearly I always need to trust him for salvation but I think that he demands radical trust and devotion. I think that one of the greatest temptations that Satan gives us to settle for a lifestyle that doesn't require daily trust in Jesus.
I know for myself that I'm scared to death of evangelizing strangers. I really want to change this but most of the time I just don't think about and I avoid it. This means that I don't learn to trust God. Other people fear giving up all their creature comforts so they avoid thinking about the fact that Jesus wants us to sacrifice everything. We really can do all things through Christ who strengthens us but we're usually not ready to trust.
Trust, sacrifice and kingdom building go hand in hand. Honestly, most people can learn to be nice decent people without too much help from God. No one though can become or live as a disciple, a true minister or soldier of God without his help. Things that I do without trust are in vain. When I really think about it's pretty sad how few things I do in trust. Honestly, it's probably only a few times per month that I take a leap of faith and do something that scares me only because God wants me to. I'd love to do this daily. May God have mercy on my soul.
Posted by rose at September 14, 2006 10:31 AM