Over the past month I've been reading Philippians with a friend of mine. This is a letter written by Paul to the church at Philippi while he was in bondage for preaching Christ's resurrection. It only has four short but jam packed chapters, so I would definitely recommend reading it. It is also home of one of the most quoted scriptures- Philippians 4:13.
The popularity of this scripture falls somewhere between John 3:16 and The Lord's Prayer. For those who don't have this committed to memory, it says "I can do all this through him who gives me strength." I think some versions of the Bible might substitute "this" for "everything" or "all things".
Philippians 4:13 is often quoted at sporting events, finals week, or other big, scary events in life. Sometimes you'll even hear it purposefully misquoted as "I can do all things except memorize scripture through him who gives me strength." The latter is supposed to be a joke and is usually followed by forced chuckles.
The thing is, this scripture isn't about winning a basketball game or concurring finals. Knowing this verse does not promise anyone a free pass to success for relying on the strength of Jesus. It's about being content in every situation. Tell that to the person who just missed what would have been the winning three point shot. Look in verse 12 right above it.
Paul knew the secret of being content in every situation; the secret is strength given by Christ. He was happy, comfortable, at ease, and satisfied whether he had food or was hungry because Jesus gave him the strength to be okay with his circumstances.
By now you probably already know I'll be leaving for five months to work in Honduras. During this time I'll miss spending my 21st birthday with friends and family, the wedding of my best friend since second grade, and the birth of a very important baby. And I'm sure many other unexpected but equally exciting things will happen while I'm away. I will miss ALL this and more.
Am I content with this? Eh, not really, but I'm working on it and it gets easier every day. With Christ's strength, I can be okay with missing these things. What I'll be doing in Honduras has a greater eternal impact. Plus, God is allowing me to be a part of so much prior to going. Half my Sunday school class got saved this past week and I witnessed their baptism. I'll be a bridesmaid at the end of May. I went to an epic family reunion. And, I'm sure there is more to come.
The secret to contentment is no longer a secret. Thank you, Paul.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
Living in the Moment
Okay, brace yourselves for the revelation I'm about to give you...Honduran culture is very different from what we're use to. You probably already knew that. Moving forward.
Americans, for the most part, are always in a hurry. Our schedules are so packed with stuff that we have little time for error. Taking a five minute break means you'll be five minutes late for whatever is next on your list. And oh, we can't be late. Early is on time, on time is late, and late is left...right? This is what we live by, or at least it was drilled into my head as a child.
Honduras? Complete opposite. The rooster is their alarm clock (or at least it was for me when I was there). Schedules? Who needs them? They'll get changed at least 7 times during the first half of the day. It wouldn't surprise me if there wasn't even a Spanish word for "early" or "on time."
While I was there, I was forced to live in the moment. I couldn't get distracted by what would happen later that day or later that week because it was unknown. I'm sure this concept will really start to wear on me about mid-July, but for right now I love it.
Think about it. How many minutes or hours do we waste planning our schedules and worrying about what we'll do in the future? I feel like the last three years of my life I've been concentrated on what I'm going to do when I'm out of school or what I'm going to do next break. When the end of school draws near, what's the first thing we do? Start counting down the days, right? We're so focused on getting to the end that we don't pay attention to the middle.
But, the middle is where life is. I just wonder how many missed opportunities I had because I was too focused on the end. Forget counting down the days I have left in lab. I want to live right here, right now making the best of every moment.
Americans, for the most part, are always in a hurry. Our schedules are so packed with stuff that we have little time for error. Taking a five minute break means you'll be five minutes late for whatever is next on your list. And oh, we can't be late. Early is on time, on time is late, and late is left...right? This is what we live by, or at least it was drilled into my head as a child.
Honduras? Complete opposite. The rooster is their alarm clock (or at least it was for me when I was there). Schedules? Who needs them? They'll get changed at least 7 times during the first half of the day. It wouldn't surprise me if there wasn't even a Spanish word for "early" or "on time."
While I was there, I was forced to live in the moment. I couldn't get distracted by what would happen later that day or later that week because it was unknown. I'm sure this concept will really start to wear on me about mid-July, but for right now I love it.
Think about it. How many minutes or hours do we waste planning our schedules and worrying about what we'll do in the future? I feel like the last three years of my life I've been concentrated on what I'm going to do when I'm out of school or what I'm going to do next break. When the end of school draws near, what's the first thing we do? Start counting down the days, right? We're so focused on getting to the end that we don't pay attention to the middle.
But, the middle is where life is. I just wonder how many missed opportunities I had because I was too focused on the end. Forget counting down the days I have left in lab. I want to live right here, right now making the best of every moment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)