Pracitce What You Preach

Perspective:

Mine vs. God's

Can you tell what this is?

It's a close up photo of something that would be obvious from a little further away.
Sometimes our perspective as humans is limited by our proximity to our current situation. It's like when a child wants you to see something and puts it right in front of your face. You may be able to make it out vaguely but it's hard to get the whole picture.

The Bible teaches that our perspective is limited because of our humanity.
That's why time after time we're exhorted to trust God and place our faith entirely in Him.
God says through the prophet Isaiah,

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways...for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

God isn't simply giving Himself a pat on the back here. He's reminding us that His perspective far exceeds ours in every way. Because He is able to see things from a heavenly vantage point while we are limited to the close up view, we can place our full confidence in His leading and guidance. We would be wise to take every opportunity to seek out His will and give every effort to follow it in all of life's decisions and circumstances.

What circumstances are you facing that require placing confidence in God? In
Jeremiah 29:11 God says to His children, "For I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you; to give you a hope and a future." It's not always easy to let go, but we can rest assured that God has our best interest at heart if we put our faith in Him!

This is the message I had the privilege of sharing with the young adults at Viviendo al Maximo En Cristo (Living to the Max in Christ) a few days ago. We were able to share some of the decisions/circumstances we're facing in life and pray together that God would lead us and give us the strength to follow Him.

One of my frustrations in Mexico has been that because of my unfamiliarity with the language, culture, and ministries here I'm not able to contribute as much as I'd like to. At home, I have a good handle on the ministry that's taking place and I know exactly how I fit into helping fulfill it. Here I feel kind of like a little kid in a big world trying to figure it all out, and I think that's a big part of what cross-cultural ministry is all about. It would be so much easier to be content with the familiar and comfortable but as I continue to seek God's direction for my future I have to practice what I preach! I have to be willing to trust that His will for my life, whatever it may be, is in accordance with His perfect plan, based on His perfect perspective.

Thank you all for your prayers and support! Communication is getting a little easier for me here and overall I'm having a really good time! The people are fantastic and I'm really well taken care of. I fell perfectly safe for those of you who are concerned with such things (love you mom!).

Since I last blogged...I've done some more sightseeing, shared the message at the young adult group, gave a chapel message at Peter and Delia's children's school, finally beat Peter on the basketball court, ate pizza (twice!), embarrassed myself on the running trail with my host family, witnessed an entertaining wrestling match, and had my first adventure driving here in Mexico. Let's just say the rules here don't mean as much as they do at home. I thought it went well but my host family kept saying "Cuidado! Cuidado! Mas despacio." Which translates "Careful! Careful! Slow down." more or less. I'm not really sure what that was all about ;)

Well thanks for checking in. I hope and pray often that everyone at home is doing well.
Love and miss you all!