Too Independent?

I am used to being an independent person and able to go places by myself and do things on my own.  I remember one time attending a conference by myself, and someone else at it told me that I was brave for doing so.  That’s not that hard; I go sit in a room and listen to a speaker.  I just happened to be eating lunch alone at that moment, but I’m an introvert and it didn’t really bother me.  As a single woman, I am old enough to know that I either have to do things by myself or I just don’t go places.  

Being in a foreign country and living here has made me aware of how it was easier to be independent back in the US.  Being independent can be good.  In some cases it’s what I need to be.  However, it may not always be the best thing for me.  We all need support and help sometimes.  Whether it’s because we’re facing hard circumstances or we’re just tired or lonely.  Sometimes, I wonder if I can be too independent.  

Here, I need help with some things because of not knowing the language or the customs.  I have had people who helped me with different appointments and various other things that had to be done. I was grateful for having help even figuring out everything that needed to be done.  It would’ve been hard to figure it out on my own.  

This past month, I have been sick.  For the entire month.  I am too tired to know all that I can learn from this.  However, this does emphasize how important people are in a different way.  It is important to have relationships with people who you can reach out to.  I have had to rely on my teammates more than normal during this time.  People have been supportive, whether it is encouraging me to go rest or making me tea.  One teammate took me to urgent care and helped translate for me.  

Also, it can be hard to ask for help.  I have seen that in myself and in people around me.  It makes me wonder: why is it so hard to ask for help?  It seems like we are more willing to offer help than accept it or ask for it.   Maybe it’s because asking for help makes us feel weak or incapable or less than in some way.  I’m not sure if it’s cultural or human nature or a combination of both, but we, as Westerners, don't seem to like admitting we’re weak.  At least we don’t in certain situations.  

1 Corinthians 12 talks about how we are the body of Christ.  Being part of a body means we’re interdependent.  We need each other to do what God wants us to do.  To fulfill our calling we need people who will make us grow and help us.  We need people who will encourage us to keep going.  Sometimes, that may mean we need to ask for help no matter how hard that is. 

Maybe, sometimes, I can be too independent.  I do know that I am supposed to be dependent on God.  I think that needing to ask for help from people can help keep me a little bit more humble and help me recognize my need for God.  It is not easy asking for help, and I still don’t like doing it, but maybe God is teaching me that I need Him and people who can point me to Him again.

Let There Be Light!

If you are a fan of International Media Ministries, this will not be a shock to you, but you DO NOT have to be a ‘preacher’ to impact the Kingdom of God. We are media geeks (I mean that in the best possible way, as I am one). We are creatives. And - maybe a new surprise for you- electricians, data entry gurus, and construction chiefs. 

For the last two months, we have had Daymon Asbury here on loan from his construction company. The plan was for a year, but some changes intervened that made that impossible. His wife is empowering us with bids and processes. They are business people. 

I’m pretty sure with some of our local crew helping and then some of our IMM Forever friends, Guillermo and Elena Monzon, showing up, we have completed an entire year’s work in a short period of time. Together, we repaired drainage issues, sidewalks, and other issues. 

There are many references in the Bible to “lifting up holy hands.” We are accustomed to this in worship songs, but I imagine it differently. Each day, when we arrive at a task, any of us lift our hands up from our sides and put them to work. These are God’s gifts, the hands that He gave us. We are his instruments to show his Glory here on earth. 

Lifting up our hands to computers, to climb ladders and redo lights, to write, to edit, to categorize videos online and on servers, to clean, to organize, to give rides to the airport: these ordinary tasks of life grow God’s kingdom. As these things happen, Jesus can be put on more screens, and we can use more of our financial resources to make that happen rather than fix building problems or search for missing data. 

An unexpected and big blessing from this buzzing beehive of activity these last weeks has been adapting our building for LED lights to save money and keep the lights on to tell God’s stories! Let there be beautiful light to make God’s light known everywhere for everyone on every screen! 

With Those Who Work

1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 ESV

“We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

From the garden, humanity has been called to labor and to work. We work to maintain our earth, work to maintain families or our own personal health and wellbeing. We work to maintain our own spiritual health and the health of others. We toil and strive for different outcomes and goals and all the while we work for the Lord. The work of missions is one that is hard work. It takes you and pulls you out of your comfort zone and a very heavy call on your life. Your spiritual and emotional strength is tested daily, though the work is rewarding. Every part of you is suddenly pulled into the light, and you have to work through your struggles while caring for the ones you are called to. It is not light work. 

Recently, I have been reminded of the Prayer of Compline and the work that Jesus did while he was on earth. Whether it was carpentry as he grew up or his ministry as an adult, he toiled with us here on earth and it was good. It was ordinary. I want to encourage you, in whatever work that you do, that the Lord has his hands on it. He is looking after you and the work that you do is good in His sight. 

“Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen.” From the Book of Common Prayer

The Divine Potter: Understanding God's Purpose for Us

Do you know what the very first words were that God said to Jeremiah? He says in Jeremiah 1, “The word of the Lord came to me and said, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.'"

That verb there, “formed,” is the Hebrew word yatsar, and God says to Jeremiah, “Before I yatsar you, I knew you.” Yatsar is the Hebrew word that actually means to take shape by squeezing. The very first word that God gave Jeremiah to understand his own life is the image God wants his people to have of who God is and what God does. God wanted Jeremiah to see this so much that he told him - “Up on your feet and go to the potter’s house!”

God yatsar Jeremiah while he was in the womb like a potter forms clay and God wants to yatsar His people like a potter forms clay.

What does God want with His pottery?

1. God created us to be useful: Yatsar is the exact same Hebrew word used to describe what He did in Genesis when he formed Adam. It’s another way to express God’s sovereignty over all of us: to express our need to yield to His divine purpose for all of God’s plans. Paul says “God wants to form us into a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work”.

2. God’s hands shape us into Christ’s image: Like a potter, God knows how to apply precise pressure, when to relax His grip, how to score our life with His fingernail, how to squeeze and nudge – all of which increase our fitness as a vessel for His use. Sometimes, He has to place us in the kiln where the fires of life turn us into stronger vessels.

3. God’s hands reshape our broken dreams: Sometimes we think we’re unusable and even unredeemable. Our problems are occasionally our own making, our pain may arise from our own stupidity. But when we bring it to God, confess it earnestly, and surrender it to the power of his blood, God takes our sin/shame and then molds us into that vessel that glorifies Him.

We’ve all heard this so many times and it can become like a clique. I know I’ve been guilty of it. Especially going through the various trials and asking the Potter, Whoa – wait, that’s too much pressure or I’m going to fracture beyond any use or my clay has been thrown over and over and has become too dry – and then Paul writes in Romans 9:19-23 (MSG),"

“Are you going to object, ‘So how can God blame us for anything since he’s in charge of everything? If the big decisions are already made, what say do we have in it?’ Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn't talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, ‘Why did you shape me like this?’ Isn't it obvious that a potter has a perfect right to shape one lump of clay into a vase for holding flowers and another into a pot for cooking beans? If God needs one style of pottery especially designed to show his angry displeasure and another style carefully crafted to show his glorious goodness, isn't that all right?”

His hands are all over us all the time if we allow Him to continually yatsar us. We are all created unique and special for His purpose – not mine! When you go through tough times or trials try and imagine God is “yatsaring” His lump of clay - smashing it, pounding it, cutting it, squeezing it, smoothing out all of the cracks to create His intended purpose – you!