I was gonna write about my paper, but I really wanted to share this with you. I will try to post some links on FB later for those who are really interested in End Times prophecy that is being fulfilled around us.
The hardest thing about Bible College is not sharing a bathroom with girls I hardly know.
It's not eating food that I don't recognize by sight, smell, or taste.
It's not following a dress code that is stricter than my own.
It's not going to class everyday, or studying every night.
It's not learning to speak a language that I hated in high school.
It's not being thousands of miles from my family.
It's not hearing the same songs over and over, in two languages.
It's not running around in the sun until I'm exhausted and sunburned.
It's not taking a test, or reading a book.
It's not relearning how to make a latte because these machines are ... different.
It's not being without my favorite foods.
It's not learning a new transit "system".
It's not protecting myself from potentially dangerous situations.
It's not checking my bills to make sure they are real.
It's not even going without coffee every once in awhile.
It's not learning how to survive without a sceptic system.
The hardest thing about Bible College for this missionary-wannabe is getting up every morning at 7 am and making my bed.
That is the hardest thing for me. I don't know why. Many days I fail at this, and I roll out around 7:04, feeling like a failure. I stare at my bed, unkempt, and completely inviting. I think to myself, Self, yes that is how I think, in English anyway. I think, Self, you could just go back into that bed. Just crawl in and close your eyes for a few more minutes. You really could. No one would even know.
But then I hear another Voice, reminding me, Rachael, and that's how I know it's not me: it doesn't call me "Self". Rachael, you know you need to get up and make the bed. You need to because you are a bond slave, and you have chosen to follow God. And you have agreed to submit to whatever authority He places over you. And the authority over you now requires you to make that bed. No matter how tired you are, when your last cup of coffee was, or who is going to notice.
And so, eventually, I make my bed and get a shower. I have not forgotten, not once. And overall, it seems to have gotten easier. But some days, I really get upset with the Holy Spirit (that voice I mentioned). I want to just go back to sleep. I want to forget about my silly bed, and these silly rules about waking up at an ungodly (yes, ungodly is the right word) hour. I want to be able to keep my room how I like it, not how someone else says. But I have come to realize this is just selfishness.
Romans 12:1-2 tells us to present ourselves as a living sacrifice. And Galatians 5:1 reminds me that I have died to myself. I am not my own. I belong to my Master. And, like Him, my goal is to serve those around me, unselfishly. In 1 John, we are told over and over to love one another. In Romans, we are told that there is no authority that God has not allowed, and for that reason, we need to respect it inasmuch as it does not contradict the command of the Lord.
So I have several reasons to make my bed, and not one legitimate reason not to.
I share this with you, to show you my most sincere and honest struggle. Dorm cleaning is hard for me. It goes against everything I want to do. My flesh absolutely despises it. Not because I am messy; I'm actually pretty organized, but because it is someone else's imposed standard of "clean".
Pray with me that I can learn to love following this rule. And that God can be glorified in this weakness.
I challenge you to search your heart and see if there is not a rule or a task that you hate. Learn to follow/do it with joy. Remember that it is a service unto God. Even if it doesn't seem like it. I'm right there with you. I understand, but, like me, you have no excuse.
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