He is Using the Weak to Shame the Strong - 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 says, “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: 'Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.'”

This verse has been coming up a lot lately in every book I read and every Bible study I hear, and every time I see it, I remember how blessed I am. I am foolish. I am unworthy. I am weak. But because He wants to show His glory, He has chosen me, even with all of my foolishness. He is transforming my life every day. He is using me to do things that I could never do on my own. My only explanation for why God would possibly choose me and use me is that He is doing exactly what this passage says. He is using the weak to shame the strong. What God is doing in and through my life is all because He wants to show His glory. When I think of what and where I was when God saved me, I can't help but be amazed at God's goodness and sovereignty.
     This passage makes me think of when Samuel went to anoint one of Jesse's sons to be the next king of Israel. Both Jesse and and Samuel were using the world's standards to choose who should be the next king. But God was on a totally different track. God doesn't see with the world's perspective. In his family's eyes, David was the least of all of them. He was just the shepherd boy. Jesse was so convinced that David wouldn't be selected to be king that he didn't even call him when he was told to gather all of his sons. But God saw him completely differently. He saw someone after His heart that He could use to show His glory. No one ever thought David was capable of doing anything significant. David was weak and God saw an opportunity to transform him into a mighty man for His glory.
     David's story and 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 are encouraging to me because I know that I am foolish and weak but I can see God's hand in my life. The only explanation I can think of for why He would choose me and use me is so that others look at my life and see Him. I am so humbled every day by where I was and where I am now and I know I have a long way to go but I know that He will finish the work that He has started in me(Philippians 1:6). I could never boast in myself because on my own, I am weak and foolish. All I can do it boast in the Lord and His goodness and strength.

Application:
I am going to put this passage on my wall.

His Grace is Sufficient - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says, “And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

     Why am I here? I'm weak. I'm broken. I'm injured. I don't even speak Spanish. I don't deserve anything but death and depravity. But yet, He has put me here, to serve Him and the people of Antigua. Why has God chosen me to be here? I have no idea. I am so beyond unworthy, but that's the thing. His grace is sufficient. His strength is made perfect in my weakness. I have come to the point where I am just saying,”God, I am so inadequate and I can't do this on my own. I'm so weak.” And that's when He says, “Perfect, you're just where I need you.”
     God can only use my life when I(and others) know that it's not me doing the work. Having a hurt hip has been frustrating because it holds me back and I can't always do what I want or what I feel that I need to do. But it keeps me humble. It makes me rely on God's strength because most of the time, I feel like I literally cannot take another step. But then I lean on Him and He grants me the strength. If I think that I can do anything on my own, that's when I am going to fail. But I boast in my weakness and His strength.
    I teach English and the Bible at four public schools in Guatemala along with other ministry work. I feel so unqualified but that's okay because it makes me lean on God for strength. If I had to do anything by myself, I would constantly be failing. I have been trying to do life on my own for  years. I've been putting up a front of godliness when I was just leaning on my own strength and understanding. But it left me empty, hopeless, and depressed. I had no joy or strength. But for some reason, God has a plan for my life. He loves me and He lifted me out of the hole that I had dug for myself. He has given me a purpose and a sure and steadfast hope. I came to a place of realizing that I cannot and do not want to do this by myself anymore. It was at that place of complete weakness that He showed me where I can gain strength. In Him and only Him.
     Towards the middle of IGNITE training, I was confused because I started thinking, “Why in the world am I here? Why would God use a mess like me? Why would He choose a spiritually and physically broken person to serve His people? I can't even help myself, how will I be able to help others?”  A friend shared this passage with me and it was then that I realized that God wants to use me so that people see His glory and strength. He wants people to see my life and think, “She could never do this on her own. This must be God.”
     The way that God is using this program to completely transform my life blows me away. I am so far from the person that I was 4 months ago and I can't wait to see where I am in 8 more months.

Application:
I'm going to write “His Grace is Sufficient” on one arm and “His Strength is Made Perfect in Weakness” on the other arm all week.

Field Time So Far... Month 1

     Ok so yesterday marks the end of our first month of serving time here in Guatemala. Here is a recap of what is going on down here. For those just now tuning in, I am an intern with Potter's Field IGNITE Missions Training School in Antigua, Guatemala. For more information on this program you can click this: pottersfield.org/ignite. In April, my class finished our 3 months of training in Guatemala and each headed to our homes for a family visit before returning to the missions field to start 6 months of field time. 4 of our teammates went off to Kenya, 2 others went to Cambodia and 5 of us and a family of 5 returned to Guatemala. 

     Here in Guatemala, we have been teaching English and the Bible in some of the public schools here. That is craziness in and of itself because we speak very little Spanish but I think we're learning pretty quickly. I am so beyond blessed that this is what I get to do. I have over 200 sweet students running up to me every week calling me Seño(teacher) and that is together terrifying and so very cool.

    So besides teaching in the schools 4 days a week, we also visit the local hospital where people with disabilities live and we get to just hang out with them. For the past two weeks we've been able to hang out with the children and feed them dinner. Every Wednesday, we host Kid's Club and kids from all over town come to the Potter's Field Center and eat lunch and then we play games, sing and dance to songs about Jesus and share a Bible lesson. At Kid's Club, my heart has been completely stolen by a five-year-old little girl named Damariz. She is quiet but also so playful, sweet and mischievous. I get so excited to play with her every week.

     We also started going to a church not too far away in Parramos and we are starting up a Kid's Club there as well. The goal is to show the people there what we do and help them take over running the Kid's Club. We also teach English there. Last Thursday was our first week in Parramos and we were exhausted afterward(since we each teach between 4 and 5 classes that morning and then after lunch, head there) but it went really well and was so much fun. Every other Saturday, we go to Ciudad Vieja and help them with a Kid's Club that they have there. We have also visited a dump in Esquintla with an organization called BuildinGuate  We played with kids that live at the dump with their families and we helped BuildinGuate with their soup kitchen.

     Okay, so almost two weeks ago, our teammate Theo hurt his knee and after several doctors appointments and an MRI, it was decided that he needed surgery on his meniscus and possibly on his ACL as well. He left for the States this past Tuesday so that he could get surgery there and we weren't sure if he would be well enough to come back during field time. After much sadness but also realization that nothing surprises God and that He has a plan through all of this, we found out yesterday that the doctors there say that surgery isn't necessary and with three weeks of physical therapy it looks like, God-willing, he will be well enough to come back to Guatemala! It has been so sad to not have him here this week and so this is incredibly exciting news. God is so good. Please keep him in your prayers. 

     Also, our classmate Kaitlin in Cambodia has been really sick since she got there a month ago. Please keep her in your prayers as well. 

     It's been pretty action packed since getting here. Something that I cannot express enough is how good God is. He is the Redeemer, Provider, Healer and so much more and it just blows me away. He continues to provide at every turn. So yeah, that's my life in the past month. Stay tuned to hear about what else God is doing here. Thank you so more for you love and support. Please keep this ministry in your prayers. 

Stop Striving - Matthew 11:28-30

 Matthew 11:28-30 says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Ok so I've been reading a book called Touching Godliness by K. P. Yohannan and it has really been knocking my socks off. It's about submission and how when you rebel against the authorities that God has placed in your life, you are actually refusing to submit to Him. It doesn't matter if the people in authority over you are Christians, or you are actually smarter than them, God has placed them in authority over you so your job is to submit and you will be blessed.

So, one of the chapters is about how Jesus is our example and he mentions this verse and a point that he made just blew me away. So Jesus tells us to take His yoke upon ourselves. That means that Jesus had a yoke to bear. My Jesus isn't proud or someone who expects me to work while He sits above me and watches. He is broken, humble and submissive asking me to come beside Him and be under that same yoke of submission.

God has been using this passage to speak to me during the time that I have been in IGNITE, especially during training. He has been changing me and stretching me and growing me so much during this time. But there were times during training that I just felt burdened. I start to look at the work that I'm doing as exactly that. Work that I am doing. I try to do everything by myself and take the glory without realizing it but I get tired and heavy laden. But Jesus tells me to lay down my burdens and take up His. I don't have to try. This work isn't mine, it's His. He wants to work through me. The work that God is using me for is not about me and I need to stop looking at it that way and give my burdens to Him. He will give me rest. This isn't talking about physical rest necessarily but I don't have to strive anymore. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. When I give into what He is doing and let Him work through me, I can rest in Him. This is really comforting to me. I love my Jesus.

Application:

This is a verse that I had on my bunk during training but isn't up anymore so I am going to put in on my wall and also be praying that Christ would work through me instead of me trying to do the work myself. I want to take His yoke.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Inductive Bible Study 5/5/15

Proverbs 3:5-6,”Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all you ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Ok so these are verses that I have had memorized for as long as I can remember. My mom had a CD that put it to music and I think it was the theme verse for a VBS that I was a part of. But do I actually ever think about what these words mean? These verses hold amazing promises but when I get caught up in the chaos of life, I forget to hold on to these promises.

1) I can trust God with my heart. I need to trust Him with everything(my thoughts, my plans, my dreams, etc.) and I can because He is trustworthy. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” He has known me and has had a plan for me since before the beginning of time. He knew the sin I would choose; He knew that I would know Him and still walk away from Him. But He has saved me and has a plan and good works that He wants me to walk in. He knows things that I don't because He can see the full picture at once. This tells me that I can trust Him with everything. I am His masterpiece. He loves me and He is taking care of me.

2) He will give me His understanding. If I'm not supposed to lean on my own understanding than this tells me that He is going to give me His understanding. I don't have to depend on what I know. I can give my weakness to Him and ask for His wisdom. This takes so much pressure off of me. I don't have to know what I'm doing on my own, I just need to look to the Creator of the universe and He will give me understanding.

3) He will be my guide. In everything I do, everywhere I go, every thought that I think, everything, I need to look to God. I need to look to what He says as important and ask Him to show me what to do every time that I need to make a decision. It's amazing to me that I get the privilege of walking with the Creator of the universe and that I can ask Him what I need to do. He will direct my paths. Like I already said, He has a plan for me. But I have free will and can choose to walk away from the good works that He has for me. But if I will trust in Him, lean on Him for understanding, and let Him direct my paths, He will guide me in the plan that He has for me.

It's amazing to have these promises in the midst of a hectic and ever-changing life. There is no need to worry no matter what is happening as long as I am trusting in Him because He is guiding me and I don't have to depend on myself.

Application:

I'm going to put these verses in the front of my school notebook so that I see it just about every day and when I get overwhelmed with what God has me doing right now(teaching English and the Bible in public schools in Guatemala) I will remember these promises.