We just got back from Hyderabad kind of late last night. At a little over 180 Km away it took us over 4 hours to get back home. (Naveen told me that 100 Km is about 60 Miles, all of this Metric system and Celsius stuff sure confuses an American. I saw the other day that it was 32 degrees Celsius and it felt hot. The same in Fahrenheit and we're freezing.) While we were in Hyderabad we went to Charminar which is known for the pearls you can get there and for pretty cheap. We also went up into this ancient structure called Minar which means pillar. There are four pillars with steps 2 to climb up and 2 to climb down. The pillars are connected and you can look out on the city from them. The steps are narrow but very tall. On the way down the lights went out and I thought I might die in the pitch black with Leela in her ergo carrier on my front. We made it though. End of the horror story.
While we were there we also met the people on the Campus Crusade staff who Naveen did his mission trip with last year. They were very nice. Leela and I were even given very nice gifts. I was kind of put on the spot though. I was asked to share a message in the morning. It was late in the evening and we were getting ready to go visit a family. I knew we'd get home late. I was already exhausted. I wasn't prepared. I didn't want to do it really. Naveen told me that he was told you should always have messages prepared when doing mission work in Asian countries because you'll often get asked just like that. He had prepared a message in case he was asked. I wasn't on a mission trip and was just meeting his new friends from the year before and had no idea that I would be asked, so I said thanks for telling me. I panicked. I had no idea what to share. I didn't even have my Bible with me. I meant to grab it, but had forgotten it. Even though he failed to warn me to be prepared he also saved me in the end. He gave me the idea to use one of the things I've been studying and I remembered the recent words of Beth Moore I had been studying. It was on Shadrach, Meschac, and Abednego, Daniel 3 when they are about to be thrown into the furnace. They told King Nebuchadnezzer that they didn't need to defend themselves in not bowing to the idol, their God could rescue them from the fire and would, and even if He didn't they still would never bow down. Beth talked about the definition of loyalty having being prepared in it. We have to be prepared to be loyal to God no matter what. She also talked about 3 senarios.
We can be delivered from the fire and our faith is built
We can be delivered through the fire and our faith is refined (this is what happened in the story)
We can be delivered by the fire into God's arms and our faith is perfected
God is with us in every one of those senerios. We just need to be loyal to God and have our minds prepared to be loyal to God no matter what the outcome. He's always loyal to his followers.
It was so great to talk about this`and make it more concrete in my mind. I've always heard the best way to learn something is to teach it. I was made to think things all the way through by teaching it. I also learned another thing, always be prepared with something to share about what God is teaching you in your life. As my mom reminded me when I told her about this Peter does tell us to always be prepared to share about the reason for your hope. In college one of my roommates asked me often what I thought God was teaching me and doing in my life. I haven't been asked that question for a long time. I think I need to start asking myself that question everyday. That way I can easily recognize His fingerprints on my life. So what has God been teaching you and doing in your life lately?
While we were there we also met the people on the Campus Crusade staff who Naveen did his mission trip with last year. They were very nice. Leela and I were even given very nice gifts. I was kind of put on the spot though. I was asked to share a message in the morning. It was late in the evening and we were getting ready to go visit a family. I knew we'd get home late. I was already exhausted. I wasn't prepared. I didn't want to do it really. Naveen told me that he was told you should always have messages prepared when doing mission work in Asian countries because you'll often get asked just like that. He had prepared a message in case he was asked. I wasn't on a mission trip and was just meeting his new friends from the year before and had no idea that I would be asked, so I said thanks for telling me. I panicked. I had no idea what to share. I didn't even have my Bible with me. I meant to grab it, but had forgotten it. Even though he failed to warn me to be prepared he also saved me in the end. He gave me the idea to use one of the things I've been studying and I remembered the recent words of Beth Moore I had been studying. It was on Shadrach, Meschac, and Abednego, Daniel 3 when they are about to be thrown into the furnace. They told King Nebuchadnezzer that they didn't need to defend themselves in not bowing to the idol, their God could rescue them from the fire and would, and even if He didn't they still would never bow down. Beth talked about the definition of loyalty having being prepared in it. We have to be prepared to be loyal to God no matter what. She also talked about 3 senarios.
We can be delivered from the fire and our faith is built
We can be delivered through the fire and our faith is refined (this is what happened in the story)
We can be delivered by the fire into God's arms and our faith is perfected
God is with us in every one of those senerios. We just need to be loyal to God and have our minds prepared to be loyal to God no matter what the outcome. He's always loyal to his followers.
It was so great to talk about this`and make it more concrete in my mind. I've always heard the best way to learn something is to teach it. I was made to think things all the way through by teaching it. I also learned another thing, always be prepared with something to share about what God is teaching you in your life. As my mom reminded me when I told her about this Peter does tell us to always be prepared to share about the reason for your hope. In college one of my roommates asked me often what I thought God was teaching me and doing in my life. I haven't been asked that question for a long time. I think I need to start asking myself that question everyday. That way I can easily recognize His fingerprints on my life. So what has God been teaching you and doing in your life lately?
That's good stuff autumn. Maybe that's why God want us to be in a community. Not just for friendships but for people to challenge us. I remember when I was a teenager a pastor asked me to share my testimony at a church concert. I told him no but felt so guilty about it for years because I wouldn't share what God has done in me. Not only did I have a fear of public speaking but I thought I had a stupid story. God didn't.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. God gives no one a stupid story. I struggle sometimes with my testimony of how I decided to follow Christ because I just knew and believed very young there wasn't a huge turning to Him like Naveen's story i'm not even sure exactly when ithappened. Just like my Bible study was saying this morning if you've followed God for a while you have a story and there's someone who probably needs to hear about it. I know Godnis constantly doing stuff in my life that I should share so He can get the glory and others may come to know Him.
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