On Sunday, we went to church with the Bluffton team at a community center. It was a great atmosphere of a group of 40 or so; praise and worship and a great message. Mike, a church planter in Beaufort who has been partnering with Crosspoint Bluffton, spoke to us on Leviticus 10. Aaron's sons were priests with the responsibility of gathering coals from the altar each morning so that incense could be burned to fill the Holy of Holies with a sweet aroma. One morning, they bypassed the altar and got the coals from another place. They were burned alive for offering unauthorized fire to the Lord. Although God does not burn us alive for mistakes today, this reference serves as a poignant reminder of what God expects of us. We cant get lazy when it comes to offerings to the Father. In this case, the particular illustration was for our time alone with Him. If we bypass the altar or cheat God with this, the consequences are not just for ourselves. Mike reminded us of our purpose here this summer: we're helping to plant a church, to spread the gospel, to reach this area for Christ. If we get lazy in our offering of time to the Lord, how can we expect that He will use us in these ways? The whole illustration really struck me and I'm sure many others. Its easy to get busy with good things and excuse cutting our quiet time short or out completely but this isn't an area to be negotiated. Time with the Father should be zealously guarded. The message has stuck with me and I'm trying to work on consciously setting aside the time needed to really meet with the Lord to know Him more and be prepared to do His work each day.
On Monday, the Bluffton interns began working with a new team from Spartanburg and Columbia. The team was amazing!! They were incredibly diligent and worked without complaint. Their leadership also clearly loves the Lord and exemplified to the teams what means to serve. It was so uplifting and encouraging to watch them serve as unto the Lord. It was a joy to spend a few days with them. I know I've learned a lot from them about serving with joy and sacrifice this week.
Heres a few pictures of my team this week :) We cleared some bushes from around the pond, raked pinecones, and helped build shelving for a greenhouse at an elementary school
On Wednesday, for reflection night, I took a walk on the beach with my camera. Appreciating God's creation through photography is one of my favorite forms of worship. I like to use the time to dwell on God's creation and His majesty. Its also an opportunity to get lost in communion with God. That night, the wind was blowing pretty intensely so I started out with it at my back. The song, "Blue Skies" by Point of Grace came to mind:
Like the wind at my back
And the sun on my face
You are life
You're grace
You are blue skies
I began to praise God for His goodness this week: an outstanding volunteer team, good quality time with Him, uplifting time with other SummerLINKers (particularly my sisters), good conversations with friends and mentors, God teaching me a lot about Biblical Womanhood as I serve here this summer and being filled with more of His joy as I do. So much to be thankful for! I was having a great time communing with Him. After awhile, I had to turn around as I didn't want to have too far to walk back with the sun setting. I started to head back towards the resort- my summer home. I had forgotten that I'd have to walk back against the wind. I got pretty tired. The wind was blowing so hard I couldn't hear anything around me. The sounds of the ocean, of people talking and enjoying the beach were no where near as clear as they had been before. Thats when the illustration hit me...I'd started out praising with the wind at my back, a beautiful view of God's creation, the soothing sound of the rolling waves...Its only right to want to praise in a situation like that. But what did I do when things weren't so idealic? I felt God gently reminding me that this was very similar to the Christian walk. Its easy to praise when all seems to be as it should be. But what happens when I'm against the wind, I cant hear much around me (other than God's steadfast, reassuring encouragement to persevere--I could still hear my own thoughts and prayers should I have chosen to reach out to Him), when I'm tired and feel alone is perhaps more important. The journey home is a long and often trying one. When things get difficult and I'm not sure how I'll get through, God's voice may be the only thing I can pick out of the white noise but I have to be diligent in seeking Him and listening for His voice.
I read a quote on the GirlTalk blog today that reminded me of my walk on Wednesday:
“God has not promised to give us the grace to face all of the desperate situations that we might imagine finding ourselves in. He has promised to sustain us only in the ones that he actually brings us into. He therefore doesn’t promise that we will be able to imagine how we could go through the fire for his sake, but he does promise that if he leads us through the fire, he will give us sufficient grace at that time. Like manna, grace is not something that can be stored up for later use: each day receives its own supply” (Iain Duguid, Daniel, p. 53).
As one of the girls pointed out in her testimony shortly before I began my walk: He's all I need, He's enough, His will is best.
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