I’ve been realizing that this GAP year for me is a year of refinement. A year for Him to slowly chisel me, taking away everything holding me back from truly following Him. There are a lot of little things that are in the way, but slowly and surely, God is helping me break free from them. We watched a video a couple of days ago in Bible class about God chiseling us away to make us become more like Him. I highly encourage that you watch it if you haven’t already seen it; it is super powerful. (Here’s the link if you want to see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhfUzodLRvk)
I’ve been getting discouraged about some big decisions coming up, and discouraged about my impact in this GAP program as well. I’ve been trying to ask God what I should be doing, and haven’t been able to hear anything specific from Him. One of my friends encouraged me, reminding me that God doesn’t always speak in big ways, but a lot of times He’ll tell us to do little things. And now that I think about it, I’ve noticed Him doing just that. God’s been teaching me things like being okay to challenge your friends, discipline yourself in Spanish, read His word, and have passion for whatever I do. Oh, how many times does God speak to us in little ways, and we don’t recognize that it’s Him who is speaking to us!
Everyone knows the great commission to “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 8:19). It’s crazy that the strongest verb in that commission is not the word “Go,” but actually the phrase “Make Disciples.” That great commission could better be thought of as “As you are going, make disciples of all nations…” Wherever God calls you, or wherever God leads you, make disciples. God does say that people from every tribe, nation, and tongue will eventually be with us in Heaven, which does involve us to reach those that are unreached, but not everyone has that call. And no matter where you are, you are called. Whether it be in school, work, or in another country. I may be called to do those little things in the DR, like encouraging friends or having a deep talk with someone, but I could just as easily do that in the States as well.
Also, something I was encouraged about this week, is that sometimes God calls a part of our life to be preparation for something else He has in store for us. For me, I would really love to just live in the DR the rest of my life and not go to college. Or just go to work right away and skip college completely. But, depending on how God has gifted me, I may need to go there for preparation. I truly believe that not everyone is destined for college, and I know that many do and will encourage me to go there after this update. I totally understand that. But if I am open to whatever God has for me, I should be open to go to college, or be willing to not go if it’s what God has for me. I think He does, but giving everything to God means giving Him all of my desires completely, including my desires to follow the cultural norm and my thoughts of what success looks like. That’s a part of the chiseling process.
Ultimately, the little acts of service and trust that we do are big in His eyes. It may be time to separate our cultural idea of what is meaningful and what is not, and check out His word to see what the truly important things are in life.
Prayer Requests:
-From November 20-24, we will be having a small mission trip about two hours away from the Capital. I am a part of the music crew (playing violin) and will be sharing my testimony in Spanish that week. Please be praying for the trip to be impactful, and please be praying for my nerves, that God would use me through both the violin and my testimony.
-For discernment on how to spend my day, and for complete focus on Christ.
