Since the beginning of the DTS, I knew this would be an important week.
I knew this partly because the subject for this week was “Hearing God’s Voice,”
and that was something I had wanted desperately to learn how to do as I came on
DTS. However, this week was also important because this Friday, September 7th,
was the deadline for submitting an application for an internship with
Engineering Ministries International (EMI). EMI is a global organization which
partners with Christian organizations and them with provides free engineering
design services. For example, EMI does architectural and civil engineering work
to design schools, orphanages, hospitals, and other buildings free of charge
for organizations that would otherwise have to pay an engineering firm to
acquire good quality designs (or go without). I knew that an internship with
EMI in their Costa Rica field office would be a great opportunity to work
internationally on technical projects in development, and as such it was one of
my primary options for work after DTS. After all, I do have an engineering
degree to put to use.
Figuring out what I’m going to do with my future is always a big deal
for me, so of course this had been in my mind leading up to this week. When I
approached God with the decision of whether or not to apply, though, I felt
like He kept telling me just to trust Him. As I have shared before, God has
been continually reassuring me of who He is and reaffirming my identity as his
Son with whom He is well pleased. He has told me in several different ways that
He has an awesome adventure planned for the rest of my life, but that I must
trust Him completely before it can truly begin. So I trusted that He was good
(which He is) and would tell me when it was the best time, even if that was the
day the application was due, or after.
Of course, it was no coincidence that this week’s focus was hearing
God’s voice, or that our speaker was the incredibly wise Mandy Hudson. God had
all kinds of wonderful things to show and tell me this week, just in time for
me to lean on Him for this decision. Mandy began teaching on Monday, and I
immediately loved the way she taught. Before she up and left her home in the UK
to come to New Zealand, Mandy worked in information technology (IT), and her
tech savvy really comes through in her teaching. She uses visual aids in just
the right ways and has a wonderful method of always interspersing times of
response and interaction into her lectures, making sure that we really meet
Jesus rather than just hear her words. And she is full of a wisdom borne out of
years of rich personal intimacy with God, a wisdom which she loves to share in
absolute humility. She is probably one of the easiest people to talk to that I
have ever met. I met with her on Wednesday evening to discuss my plans, and,
quickly understanding my personality, she began to draw a diagram of my options
and the reasons for doing each. She explained that being analytical in these
ways is by no means wrong; in fact, it gives focus to what we bring before God
as we ask for guidance. Being led by God does not mean forsaking the mind, but
rather submitting the mind to the Spirit so it can be renewed!
Now I won’t even attempt to summarize everything Mandy taught us over
the course of the week, even though so much of it was so good. Instead, I’ll
focus on what most spoke to me in my situation this week. And that had
everything to do with intimacy with God.
This theme of friendship and intimacy with God was woven all through
Mandy’s teaching on hearing God’s voice, even though she didn’t specifically
talk about it until Tuesday. Certainly, God was revealing His desire for
intimacy with me before she even talked about it. On Monday and Tuesday as I
spent time with God, He showed me that I shouldn’t have my own agenda every
time I come to God. I’m not trying to get something out of God; I’m trying to
be in a relationship with Him. He showed me that I should come to Him often
with no other desire than to spend time with Him, and He will set the agenda.
Again, it’s about trusting Him – He knows what you need, and He knows you have
deadlines.
So I tried it. I went to the valley on Tuesday night wanting only to
spend time with Jesus. And it was one of the most joyful times I have ever
experienced. I had so much fun. Even there in the dark valley, God met me. As
He prompted, I talked with Him, I listened for His still, small voice, I read
His word, I prayed for people, I sang songs that came to mind, I received
prophetic words for someone, and just really enjoyed his company. Mandy had
told us about different ways of approaching God and letting Him speak to us,
one of which was lectio divina (sacred reading). This is one that I had heard
of before at my church at home (shout out to Owen!), but now I was really in a
place to put it to use. God really used it speak to me out of Scripture in a
way that I really wasn’t getting before. It’s so exciting to hear from God so
much, and He wants to speak intimately with each of the 7 billion people on
this planet!
Mainly what I want to convey here is that intimacy with God is actually
about the most fun and exciting thing you can do – it’s something to look forward
to! Seriously, you’re talking face to face with the Creator of the Universe,
who also happens to be your Loving Father, your all-sufficient Savior, and the
Spirit of Truth. That is good stuff! And if you don’t have His word in front of
you at the moment, you just have to realize that He put His “second word” all
around you – his creation which constantly proclaims his glory! He has shared
with me some delightful revelations about Himself through his creation this
week. For example, every little creature, every plant that God made delights
Him! He is delighted by the fact that fish swim and birds fly and green plants
can grow out of the remains of old dead plants. He takes such delight in life!
He knows and loves every detail of his creation, and enjoys its intricacy and
complexity. He loves the fact that it is constantly changing, but in
predictably rhythmic patterns (like the seasons). But God delights in nothing
more than He delights in His kids. He loves that what He created can also
create, and He enjoys seeing what we make. He loves how He made each of us just
right.
And so God continued teaching about how good it is to be intimate with
Him, and how hearing his voice is about much, much more than guidance in life.
In fact, He continued teaching me this even into Thursday, as the application
deadline became dangerously close. Yet I wasn’t worried; I really trusted that
God would let me know when He wanted to tell me something about it. On Thursday
morning instead of lecture we all went into the valley to spend quiet time
hearing from God. As you might expect, I thought it might be about time for God
to tell me what to do. But no, again He told me that intimacy must always come
first. I had a wonderful time in the valley, meditating on creation and on
God’s word until I ran out of time. No decision yet.
Finally, though, I felt it was time to bring the decision before God
that afternoon. An hour before dinner, I headed back to the valley to meet God.
At first I didn’t seem to hear much, but I had invited God to be there and He
will never pass up an invitation like that. So I presented the options before
God as I had discussed them with Mandy and began reading in the book of James:
“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness.”
(James 3:17-18 NLT)
God’s wisdom then gradually began to hit me. The word “foundation” kept
coming up, and I thought about how a strong house really needs a good, solid foundation.
This brought up two passages that Frank Naea had use the past week about God’s
Father Heart:
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”(Matthew 7:24-27 ESV)
“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”(Psalm 127:1 ESV)
Always when reading the Matthew passage in the past, I thought that I
was supposed to be the wise man. But it turns out that God is the wise man – I’m
just the house! God wants us to let Him build our lives on Christ rather than
us trying to do it ourselves. If we try to do it ourselves, we will be without
a firm foundation and will wash away when the storm comes.
I think God was telling me that He wants to keep strengthening my
spiritual foundations – prayer, intimacy with Him (hearing His voice), service,
humility, and living in the Spirit before I move on to what I believe is my
specific calling, which is to work on the technical problems of providing
people with food and clean water around the world while spreading the love of Christ.
This focus on foundations really pointed me toward my primary alternative to
the EMI internship, which was to staff the upcoming DTS here at YWAM Marine
Reach in January. Since I had begun considering staff as an option following
the end of DTS, I had regarded it as a way to serve others while solidifying my
own foundations as a follower of
Christ. Staffing will also give me opportunities to step out in leadership and
service, receive more teaching and mentoring, and remain surrounded by edifying
Christian community. It will also mean more international experience, as it should
involve helping lead an outreach to another country in the Pacific or Southeast
Asia.
So here’s the result of all of this:
I decided not to pursue the EMI internship for the spring and instead go after staffing the next DTS here!
I’ll tell you more about what that means in the coming weeks...
So that was the big thing that happened last week. Here are all the little
things, rapid fire. On Monday, we all dressed up for Invited Speaker Night and Jim
Hern (most awesome old guy ever) came to speak to us. On Wednesday night we had outreach prep class, and
learned that we can’t bring any computers or other internet accessible devices on outreach. We’ll still be in contact every once in a while, but weekly blog
posts and lots of pictures on Facebook will probably be out of the question. On Thursday night, we had a bonfire which involved the staff telling stories and everyone roasting marshmallows!
On Friday afternoon, I got really wrapped up in planning Seth and my post-DTS
New Zealand exploration, which is going to be awesome! On Saturday morning, some guys preparing another incredible breakfast for everyone. Then on Saturday
night we watched Nefarious, which I
talked about in the last post. Anyway, it was a good, full week!
Thanks to all of you who are keeping up with us! I hope you learn a
little something in these blogs, and realize that experiencing God is not
relegated to DTSs or to New Zealand. He’s happy to meet you wherever you are –
just ask Him!
Love,
Dan
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