I was asked what the biggest thing God has done in my life is. Immediately I knew the answer: Fear of the Lord. Fear of the Lord is something that, praise the Lord, I have been filled with on DTS. Now, fear of the Lord? You may be asking what that is... shouldn't we not be afraid of God? Of course. God is not a scary God, but as Christians, we are called to love what he loves, and hate what he hates, to be passionate about following Him, and above all else want to honor Him. When we have these things, we are more aware that God is literally with us at all times. So this should effect your speech, your thoughts, and your actions.
I realized that before DTS, I had no fear of the Lord. Yes, I went to church, grew up in a Christian home, went to youth group, led worship, and even was a "spiritual" leader for some of my peers. But did I follow God? Did I want to honor him in every aspect of my life? No. Before DTS, I cannot tell you ONE time that I had a quiet time, or read my Bible outside of bible class. I cannot tell you a time when I let the fact that God is always with me stop me from having an inappropriate conversation, judgmental thoughts, or doing something foolish or unwise.
But now I understand, I have had so much revelation at just how BIG an omnipresent my God is, that I want to honor him above all. If it means looking like a fool to my friends, being bashed for standing up for the truth, walking away from a situation, stopping a conversation, changing the radio, turning off the TV, then so be it. Honoring, and serving my God is a million times worth it, and better than all those things.
Then I was reminded of scripture that God has been using to speak to me since day one....
"What does the Lord require of you?
Seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly
with your God"
- Micah 6:8
Seek Justice -- Outreach was filled with this. With so much injustice around, how could I not seek justice for these people? To do what we do best here in YWAM Perth, intercede on their behalf. Why should I be so blessed and get to know about Jesus so freely? They deserve to know as well! Yes I know technically we all deserve hell, but why should I keep what I know silent? They are my equals. Just because they live in a different part of the world, their houses may look different [or just their toilets], or they eat different food or speak a different language; they should know! The injustice they suffer, it's the least I can do. I can at least share with them about the love, security, and blessing that comes with knowing Jesus.
Love Mercy -- You know when you spend time looking for your glasses just to find out they were on your head the whole time? Yeah this is how the whole mercy thing was for me. I am supposed to be like Christ. Christ loves mercy. I should love mercy. Right? Well darn ole selfishness often gets in the way of that. I want what I want, my comforts. But why don't I want comfort for others? I say I do in my words, but I do not in my actions. But God turned that around and really gave me a heart for HIS people. They are His and He has chosen them and ADOPTED them and longs to extend His mercy to them. So I should love them, I should be Jesus and show them that. And that is what [with God's help] I was able to do. God has TOTALLY given me a heart for the broken, lost, and searching. He has given me an even bigger heart for the unsaved. Those in my family who are unsaved, those around me in my life and shown me the reality of what it means for them to not be saved and the importance of loving them. They deserve my prayers, they deserve my time. They deserve mercy.
Walk Humbly -- This has probably been the biggest thing for me. Humility. Something I have never really had. Wether it's tooting my own horn, putting myself before others, not wanting to serve/being selfish, or having false humility. God is showing me what it means to be humble. There have been days where He has challenged me to even not talk about myself. It's a lot harder than you may think. God has challenged me to be humble in the small things; admitting when I'm wrong about the smallest thing, asking for forgiveness for the smallest thing. It is so important, cause even the SMALLEST thing that we may thing is no big deal, is. Like we are taught, sin is sin and even the smallest thing is equal to the biggest. There were many times on DTS where I had to eat that delicious slice of humble pie. The thing that hit me the most with humility is that "HUMILITY IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING TO GOD" Why wouldn't I strive to be humble?
So those are just a few things that I have really taken away from this experience and more. But God is so faithful. When I fail, when I am slow to learn, He is the best teacher. He has the most grace, and He has the most patience. It's been the most amazing ride. It's been the most life changing experience. And even though It may not have been God's "plan" for me to be here 9 months, He took my mistakes, my redemption, and truly worked them out for the GOOD for His glory.
PRAISE THE LORD!
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