Just Be

This first full week has been filled with many blessings and numerous learning experiences...

Monday we went to Ryan's house for a day full of teachings. In 6 hours we had learned the history of God from before time to the time of Alexander the Great. After an hour and a half break, we spent 2 hours learning about poverty. 

Here is the most condensed version I can come up with of the first teaching :-) (Please feel free to skip this part, it is more a memory check for me than an explanation of what I learned)

God/Trinity/Perfect love- Creation. God is love. Fall. Flood. Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob). God is love. Joseph. Egyptian slavery. Moses. Plagues. Exodus. Directions given by God. God is love. Wilderness/ Training. Promised Land. Order for purification of the land. God is love.  God as King. Lead also by judges. Asked for a human king. Saul. David. Solomon. Split of the northern and southern tribes. (Prophets) God is love.  Assyrian destruction of Israel in 722 BC. (Prophets) Babylonian destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 589 BC. Exile to Babylon. Invasion by Persia. Slowly returned to Jerusalem. God is love. Rebuilt temple. Rebuilt the wall around the temple. Time where there were no more prophets. Hellenization. Roman occupation. Maccabean Revolt. God is love.

(If you tuned out... you can re-enter here)

That above history is so important. It is God's story. But for me, I took so much more out of the teaching than facts. We talked about God's character, and how he related to the people in love, in holiness, in faithfulness, by preparing them, and going with them. I so desire to live with a realization that God still relates in those same ways with us. 

After that teaching, we learned about poverty. In the interest of time, I will talk about that in a later blog post. But it was a very eye-opening teaching.

The last few days, I have been focusing on abiding in the presence of God. Whether that be in cutting bell peppers, handing out food, folding/sorting clothing, spending hours at the Prayer Room, running, or having conversations with those around me, I am asking God that he will give me grace to be with Him in every moment. I often get into a mindset of over-analyzing, and trying to figure out the "right" thing to do. But I don't believe that is the calling of God. He wants us to seek him, and he will lead us down the path of LIFE! It is not up to me to figure out the right thing to do all the time. 

It is up to me to come humbly before my loving Father, and just be with him- trusting that he is loving enough to correct me, he is powerful enough to change me, and he is sovereign enough to get me where he wants me without me planning it out in advance. So for now, my prayer is this: 

Father, give me grace, and silence my racing mind so that I can be blessed by just being in your presence. I pray that that would be glorifying to you, and would produce an outpouring of your love on those I am around.  

Prayer Requests:

- That I would be able to stay present where I am and not worry about the future.

- That my eyes and heart would be opened to those I am serving and working with at Hope Faith.

- That I would continue to choose in to abiding in God's presence.

- That I would feel rested and renewed for every day.

- That God would be glorified in my every moment this summer.

Thank you for your prayers :-)