The will of the Father

   Ok, here goes an attempt at trying to figure out what just happened. We got back from Mexico on Friday, and I am still recovering from spiritual whiplash. 

Here is a typical day at Mexico Caravan Ministries :

6:30 Rise and Shine!

7:00 Morning Devotionals (by ourselves) 

7:30 Breakfast

8:00 Morning Meeting (someone would teach us from the Word, either a guest speaker or Eddie, the man in charge)

9:30ish Head off to build a house

We spent the rest of the day building, usually finishing the house between 3 and 4 o'clock.

After that, was pretty much free time except on Tuesday and Thursday night we met together to hear staff testimonies. 

  The really cool part for me was that I knew most of the speakers and  some of the staff. The whole week they spoke Truth from the Word. The funny thing is, from all of the teaching we heard, I really did not learn anything new. Like, I had heard all of what they taught before. It was just  that they taught with authority and conviction. They did not go easy on us because the commands are hard. They did not give us the option to just sit and listen. It was quite clear that obedience is the only option. But breathe. There is joy in obedience. 

    Have you ever asked the question, "God, what is your will for my life?" I thought you might have. Guess what! I know the answer!

God's will for your life is this:  Find out what His will is, and mold your life to fit His will.

Easy as that. 

But how do I find out what the will of God is? Read the Bible. Just start reading. Pay attention to what God's heart is, and viola. You understand the will of God. Not as big of a deal as you thought (I mean, seriously, If God is about accomplishing His will--which He is--why would He hide it from us? He has clearly laid it out in His word).

Here is one thing that hit me this week. The weight of the cross. 

Think with me for a minute. If you were living in Jesus-times, and you heard that your neighbor was carrying his cross, you would assume that he was going to die very soon. Like, that day. We would run outside and watch him walk the narrow road to his death. 

He only had one option at this point: death. He could not lay his cross down and say never mind. He could not stop and get a new pair of shoes first, or say wait, I wanted to say goodbye to my family. He only had one thing on his mind: death.

When I decided to follow Jesus, he commanded me to pick up my cross in order to follow Him. He did not feel sorry for me because it is heavy. He did not apologize for the inconvenience. He requires much of his followers.  

       So, this week what I experienced this week was the heartbeat of God. It was not new, but refreshingly old.