This past week has been a stretching week for me. I took a vacation that somehow has not felt like much of a vacation. I flew to Atlanta on Wednesday and for me flying commercially is never a good start to vacation..lol. I bought a truck on Thursday morning that proceeded to break down within a few hours and change all of my plans for the day. The man who sold me that truck also had his plans totally messed up so that he could try to help me get it running. It did not work, so he had it towed to the mechanic and after 3 days even he didn’t have it fixed. I managed to get a vehicle and relax and hang out with friends Thursday night and during the day Friday.
That is just the physical, worldly ways God worked on me. Starting on the first I joined 22,000+ college students for 4 days of worshiping God and studying Him. While I was stretched every day of Passion 2011, never so much as when John Piper talked about what should be at the bottom of my joy. Now at first I was confused as to what he meant but he explained himself and it struck me hard. He used an example that said: I make an “A” on an exam. This makes me happy, why? I say that well I want to make as many “A’s” as possible so that I can get into grad school. Why do I want to get into grad school? I want to get into grad school so that I can be a clinical psychologist. Why do you want to be a clinical psychologist? Because I had a bad experience as a child and I want to help people get through such experiences.
So the bottom of that person’s joy is to help people and make himself feel better. This is not how it should be, the bottom of our joy should be in Christ. The root reason for everything we do should be to love Christ and to bring Him Glory. This truth really struck me hard. I really had to spend the next while struggling through whether or not I do the things I do for His joy or mine. Do I make much of Him or do I seek to be made much of? These words and the scriptures used (combined with all of the other teaching from the week), really stretched me.
As I was wrapping up those days at Passion I get the news that the truck I had bought was not fixable in time for me to get home as needed. This really stressed me out because I had no clue how I was going to get home. I spent that afternoon trying to find another truck, finally resigning myself to dropping a small fortune (in my broke life) on a plane ticket home. I do not know why the truck plan did not work out, or what reason God would have for stretching the fella that sold me the truck and myself; but, I do know that god is in control and there is a reason.
Despite all of the stress and frustration (and probably overreaction) I would not change the first week of 2011. I have learned, once again, to simply role with the punches and turn with the curves. Even though I do not do well in crowds, I cannot think of a better way to have spent the first 4 days of 2011 than with 22,000 other college students worshiping Christ. On the last night of Passion 2011 there were 15,000+ students in Phillips Arena singing “God of This City” so loud that Chris Tomlin and the band could not be heard clearly. Though most of us could not sing it was a beautiful sound! That does not count the 6-7,000 in the other building! To hear God speak through men like Francis Chan, Louis Giglio, and John Piper was just amazing. I wish I could write down everything that touched me while I was there, but nobody would want to read it. lol.
As the scripture says “in the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” I praise God for His gifts of patience and even the trials and troubles (however small my problems may be in the grand scheme of things).
In what ways has God stretched you lately? What aspect of your life has God gone to work on?
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