At about 6:15 this morning I went into our kitchen to put some coffee on. Well...this process would be much delayed once I realized that our kitchen had been overtaken by tiny spidy-ants during the night! I looked and saw a thick row of ants crawling from our cabinets into our pantry! Usually we are killing them on our counters, etc., but getting into our food...they have gone too far this time!
I quickly got out our ant spray and started spraying them at the source (cracks by our cabinets and pantry). I then went out to our porch and saw that a branch from a large tree was touching our porch wall, which provided a perfect bridge onto our porch for these little creatures, and then into the cracks that lead to our kitchen! Again...I broke the branch off the tree that was touching our porch...getting the enemy at the source!
Although this experience was not enjoyable, and definitely put me behind schedule this morning, the Lord, as always, had something to teach me through it! So often in my own life when I see a problem, I quickly address it at the surface. I don't like conflict or being uncomfortable, or putting my problems on others, so I try to fix it quickly myself. Well...God has been teaching me that this is not only wrong, it's not Biblical. When He reveals an issue or problem in my life, it's an opportunity to get to the core, and allow Him to replace the lies with His truth.
This has been extremely clear in my life in regards to how I have been viewing ministry here in Fiji. So often at the end of a long day on campus meeting with students, I look at what happened that day to decide whether it was a successful day or not. This success is often based on how many students showed up to meet with me, how conversations went, or how "useful" I felt on campus. Obviously this results in a roller-coaster of days and then weeks on campus. The Lord has been teaching me that success is not in how well I seem to be doing according to my own standards, but rather, how closely I am walking in step with the Holy Spirit and following His moment by moment leading in my life.
We are called to live our lives with our eyes fixed on the cross, making loving the Lord our TOP PRIORITY and purpose! From this, all else will be put into place. We will see our relationships, responsibilities, hardships, schedules and commitments in light of eternity. Let us not live to enhance our own kingdoms on this earth, which will burn away in the end, but rather live for the Kingdom of God, ever pursuing Him and thus becoming more and more like Him through our lives!
So instead of focusing on the surface issues (i.e. the row of ants are overtaking our granola box or my constantly shifting emotions regarding my success on campus), let's dig deep and let the Lord break thorough the lies we so quickly believe and become entangled in, and pursue His truth, that will help us reach that root cause.
So get out your ant poison, or in your case, your Bible, and get to the source. Break off those branches that prove to be a bridge to allow the enemy to enter in, and seek the Lord in prayer. Ask others to come alongside you to keep you accountable so you don't fall back into those ways. It won't always be perfect, I'm sure I'll be using that ant spray again, but if I only killed the ants that I see crawling on our food, and not getting rid of them at the source, I would be missing out on actually enjoying our apartment, and living in freedom from ants. Embrace the freedom our Savior freely gives us, if we allow Him access to get to the root and clean out the lies. In that freedom is found true life, the life the He desires all those that follow and love Him, to experience!
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
-Hebrews 12:1-2
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