Hello everyone!
Okay, so this topic is something that I feel very conflicted to talk about. This topic has been something that has been talked about by a lot of different people recently and I think it is God trying to tell me something. Do you ever feel like the Lord is trying to tell you something when you hear the same thing over and over and over again? Yeah, that is how I am feeling with this topic I’m about to tell you about.
So my church started a new sermon study called “Living by Promise, not Performance”. This past Sunday, October 7th, 2018, the topic was “The Faith Frontier”. You have two options when it comes to following Jesus and what you decide to let Him do in your life. You have option #1: the settlement - the place where you feel comfortable and you do what you want to do and not really care about what God has planned for you because you are scared about what he would make you do. #2: living in the frontier - the place beyond the settlement. The place that Jesus tests your faith by seeing how far you will go for him. The place that you have to fully trust him to show you his plan for your life.
Christ didn’t go to the cross to purchase a group of people that stayed in their comfort zone. He went to the cross to purchase a group of people that, as the bible says, has a zealous love for Christ and will go out and witness to others. The analogy I see in my mind is like a football game: you can’t just stay on the sidelines and watch everyone else get tackled. The opponents that you are tackled by are the worldly sins and struggles. But you don’t let it stop you. You get up. You can’t breathe, everything within you hurts, and you want to give up. But because you don’t want to lose the game, you get up and you keep playing. You are being cheered on by your coach, who is Jesus. He has taught you everything you need to know and when you don’t think you can go any farther in the game because you have been run over so many times, he encourages you to keep going. And you do.
He tells us in his word that nothing will ever be easy when you are following him. He says in Matthew 10:22, “And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” It will be better in the long run to live for Christ now then to live for the world. If you are scared of what people will think of you, even other Christians, then you are living for the world. He didn’t call them; he called you. He doesn’t call the equipped, he equips the called.
My pastor said this in his sermon on Sunday, “Your Christian life shouldn’t make sense to non-believers. And sometimes, it won’t make sense to other believers.” That really hit me hard. Because so many of my friends and family, people who are strong believers, have asked me over and over again, “why do you want to go all the way to China? Can’t you do something like that in the US?” Yeah, I probably could. But that isn’t what I have been told to do. That is not my position to play in the game. My coach gave me the position that covers China. And that is my favorite position to play. I didn’t want that position at all when I first joined the team. I was one of those people that wanted to sit on the sidelines and cheer others on from there. But then I got a taste of the real game...and I loved it. I craved to be out there. I never want to be taken out of the game. There is so much more I have to learn from the things that will tackle me and from my coach. It’s not something you learn in practice or learn from watching film. It’s something you learn from experience.
If you have not lovingly, but very clearly, been confronted by Christ on how to leave your current life behind, then you have not been confronted by Christ at all. You will know when a call comes from the Lord. But you have to allow him to call you. You have to have your heart wide open for him.
Lessons to keep you going on the frontier:
Biblical risks on earth always yield rewards in heaven.
Risking it all for Christ, in the long run, is the only safe thing to do.
If you are bored with the Christian life, you are not living the Christian life in the first place.
You have to want to play the game. If you feel like you are sitting on the sidelines, you need to ask the coach to put you in the game. You can’t just sit on the sidelines waiting for him to see you. You need to stand up and say, “Coach, please put me in the game. I am ready for endure the tackles.” Once you step onto that field, and you feel the lights shining on you, there is no better feeling. Knowing you are doing something for Christ, oh man, it is amazing! There is nothing like it. Because when you win that game, even when everything hurts, you can’t help but feel amazing. Because that game was won for the kingdom of God.
I hope this all made sense and you understand my analogy. There is honestly no better feeling of being in the game. The sweat and tears and pain that you endured to win that game, and all your hard work paying off when you see your work in other people and see your own spiritual growth...nothing is more beautiful than that. If you have never experienced anything like this, pray to the Lord to put you in the game. It’s hard, but it’s also so much fun! Love you guys!
- Han <3 -
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