Semester 2

Two tests to go and Bible school is half over, which means I'm halfway to halfway prepared (or at least as prepared as I can be) to going overseas.  So what have I learned?

Today, as we closed out Acts with Adam Demark, he said something that I thought, in my humble opinion, was profound.  He said, "The book of Acts with the word 'unhindered,' not the death of the Apostles Paul, because it isn't about Paul.  This book has always been about the Holy Spirit who will always be triumphant while you and I are expendable."  And rather than being offended, it was probably the most comforting I've heard in a while.

His statement paired well with a challenge we received from Rick Barth in Bible Basis of Missions.  He was talking about discerning God's will and he stated, "I don't want a shout.  I want to be ready to hear the whisper." Meaning we should be so in tune with God's heart, so filled with the Holy Spirit, that God's will isn't a question.  Time and time again this semester I've been reminded of good ol' Roger's (that's my dad) words of wisdom all through high school and college.  "Is your heart to glorify God?  Then whatever you do won't be a mistake."  Pursuing God's heart isn't just half the battle of figuring out life, it's the whole battle.

So again, what have I learned?  At least from this most recent block (maybe I'll tackle the whole semester another time) life might not be easy, but that doesn't mean it was ever intended to be complicated.

The Blue Monster

“Do you ever feel like a sad, blue monster?”

“All the time.”

Note that the kid who answered that question is eight years old.  All the same...I relate, kid.  I relate so hard.

And yet, so much else is racing through my mind.

This morning, one of my friends asked me what one word would sum up my entire freshman semester at EBI.  Why do people do that? Why do we whittle things so far down that we can barely grasp what they are meant to embody?  My word was unexpected.

I have grown, but not in the cataclysmic ways I imagined I would.   This growth is a seed, just barely dipped in a stream, tucked away in warm earth, just beginning to break down the outer shell with its very first shoot. When I take stock of all the files waiting for storage space in my cluttered mind, God is ever present.  He has made me softer, more willing to stop and listen than to hurry up and fix it.

At the very beginning of the semester another new friend encouraged me to write down wisdom in a notebook separate from my school notes.  I didn’t.  But at the very front of my Bible, I have written two things that have been beaten over my head over and over the past few months.  I’ll share them with you and end this post with that.

1) Renewal of fellowship has always been God’s plan. He never planned to not send Christ.  This is integral and foundational and simple and also comforting.

2) Draw courage from God’s past faithfulness.  He is consistent.  If He’s been faithful once, He’ll be faithful again.  And that’s that.