Facing The Challenge

I can't remember whether or not I ever told you what I did last summer. I worked on summer staff at a christian camp on the Oregon coast. It was me and 15 other college students living, working and growing together in an encouraging and challenging community. We worked hard, we counseled selflessly and we loved and were loved overwhelmingly. There is so much I could say about that summer, but the reason I say this now is not to reminisce.
I am going back this summer. In fact I'm going back in just a few days for another three months of hard, intense, challenging and good community. I've been preparing for this for the last few months--in some ways for the last year. I've been convincing myself that it is going to be very different from last year--which is exactly right. I've also been convincing myself that it is going to be a tremendous challenge in many different ways--and I'm sure it will. And I've been praying that God will continue to prepare me for the things he has in store for me this summer--which I'm sure he has.
There is one thing I thought of this evening that I haven't done. I haven't asked God for specific challenges, for specific ways I would like to grow this summer. I've just assumed that stuff will come up--and I'm sure stuff will. However, there are some areas in my life that I know can use some work, so why not ask him to work on those areas in particular?
For a good chunk of my life I have been of the attitude that God will present me with opportunities for growth as he sees fit. Some times that meant sticking with classes or teachers that I was given even when I didn't think it would be possible for me to succeed. Other times it meant accepting opportunities that I knew God wanted me to pursue even though they frightened me. Time after time God has pushed me further and further out beyond my comfort zone, and with very little direction from me. It's a fine way to live, and it has worked well for us so far.
But what would happen if I recognized an area in my life that needed growth and actually asked God to challenge me in that area? That's a scary thought...because he just might answer.
Let's continue this thought, because even in scripture God doesn't give us challenge without encouragement.
Challenge means discomfort; it means unfamiliar territory. What happens if I get there and I'm not ready? What happens if I respond wrong? What happens if I don't know what to do?
Ah, but that's the beauty of God's work. "God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear." More than that, "it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."
It is the same God who has created us "in Christ Jesus to do good works, which [He] prepared in advance for us to do." This is the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. The God who brought his people, Israel, up out of Egypt; Who parted the sea so that his people could walk on dry land; who guided the same stubborn people through the dessert for forty years, providing for them in the wastelands. This is the same God who went to all the trouble of redeeming lost and wicked people through the sacrifice of his son. This is the same God who worked through fishermen and Pharisees; who turned a murderer into an apostle. The same God who has continued throughout history to take the most minuscule faith of the most simple people and honor it with his full power and provision.
If I can't trust the plans and challenges of that God, who can I trust? He is the only one who can give me just the kind of challenge I need, AND will always give me exactly what I need to grow through that challenge. He has proven it to me time and time again.
Things will still be rough, and I might even fail...at least to a degree. The trick is to turn to him, and if necessary confess my failure, because "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." And then continue forward remembering and learning from past mistakes.
What have I got to lose? "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

Jesus Loves Me...And He Loves You Too

The pictures are about as random as the music, but it's all original (with the exception of the images that have text over them).