I spent a huge part of my day working with mosaics at my service site, Ethembeni.
Tonight in D group, I realized something. We are mosaics.
We start out as a glass figure of some sort, carved by our own agendas, issues, and limited understanding.
Then a time comes when the Lord decides to break us. He smashes apart all of our pre-conceived notions, our misconceptions, and the identity given to us by the world.
But it is here that the Lord takes the pieces that are worthwhile and molds, shapes, and places them to create something new, and something more beautiful. The work now reflects the craftsman and is much more beautiful than before.
“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then death is at work in us, but life is at work in you…
Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly, we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
-2 Corinthians 4:6-18
We are fighting an unseen battle. When I’m discouraged, I will remind myself that. Because even though OUTWARDLY, we are wasting away, we are being renewed day by day.
Satan thinks he is winning by attacking the physical body. But what chance does a body stand against the spirit when God commands the spirit?
Today, I was completely broken. It’s one thing to hear about the problems Africa faces. It is quite another to fall in love with African children and see how they are directly impacted by these problems.
How can I possibly help these children? All I can do is let them play with my hair, hold them, perform cheesy skits, and give one of them a sweatshirt.
How does that really help?
Something that is amazingly comforting is simply knowing that all I have to do is be open to what God is doing, and He will work through me. There is nothing I have to do but volunteer to be the chess piece God uses in a particular time and place. I am the vessel, and He is the miracle.
I couldn’t believe how joyful they are. They have literally NOTHING. And yet, they praise God. Tonight in D group, Liana reminded me that, “Blessed are the poor.” NEVER has that been so true. They are blessed because when they are given ANYTHING, they are JOYFUL and THANKFUL.
Having material items does NOT make us blessed. It makes us blind. We are blinded by physical things! Africa has faith because they have NOTHING else! But how would you rather be?! The LORD provides for them! And they are close to the LORD because they are reliant upon Him!
I am not saying it’s a curse to have things. It’s not. But, too much of anything is negative, hey? I believe it is my calling to bless others. Where much is given, much is required.
Liana was just a fountain of wisdom tonight. One of my favorite things she said was, “You’ll never see change in yourself until you stop looking at yourself and start staring at Jesus.”
It’s hard not to stop and question, “How am I changed? What’s different?”
And I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
But how much more change could be occurring if you don’t get in the way of God’s plans by examining yourself?
Not only am I staring at God. I am chasing after him.
Today God smashed me into a thousand pieces. He is busy designing and creating my mosaic. I am hoping when He is done, the mosaic will not look like me. I am hoping it will be a reflection of the craftsman.
Tags: 2 Corinthians, South Africa
http://rennasouthafrica.blogspot.com
Truly inspiring (: You have such a great outlook on life! I was also impacted by the hardships in Africa today when we had a guest speaker from northern Uganda to speak to my high school on behalf of the Invisible Children program. It’s tragic to hear about what these people face and I realize how gifted I am. I would love to travel to Africa to help in some way!
Thank you so much! I am just constantly reminded of how truly blessed I am, and I don’t want to take that for granted! Invisible Children is such an amazing program. I hope you can get involved! If you are interested in study abroad and really want to go to Africa, I highly recommend the South Africa program at APU. I’m not just saying that! I have never grown and been challenged so much. God is working so intensely in my life right now, as it seems He is working in yours! Please feel free to ask me any questions about South Africa or APU. :)
Thank you and yes I’ve heard of APU’s South Africa program and I would really love doing that! So I have a question for you: As a junior in high school at a small all girl’s Catholic school (And when I say small, I mean small! Only about 50 girls in my junior class), would you recommend a smaller school like APU? I feel like at a large state school I would be completely lost and overwhelmed. Are the class sizes really small, like there are no huge 400-student lecture halls, right?
I completely encourage you to do that! I definitely would recommend a smaller school. I have made many friends who came from small high schools who are very happy at APU. The school is big enough so that you’re always meeting new people, but small enough to be able to build a very strong community. The class sizes are very small! My smallest class last semester was about fifteen people. My biggest was about forty. I believe the largest class size is seventy people. This was a huge factor that helped me decide to come here! I want to be able to get to know my professor, as well as the other students in my class. Do you have a major you’re looking into?
Thanks so much! That’s really helpful, I like that the biggest class is only 70! And my intended major is Communications or Journalism. I’d like to go into broadcasting.
I love it too! That’s awesome. I have four really good friends who are Communications majors, and one of those wants to be a sports broadcaster. They all really enjoy the Communications major! I hope that’s encouraging for you.
Hello! I am so glad I could be of help to you! Best of luck!