Typically, I think most people would classify me as a pretty independent person. I suppose if I wasn't, I wouldn't have moved to the other side of the world by myself to live and work with people I had never previously met in person. I suppose that it is true, me being independent, that is, as long as you are referring to independence from the comforts of familiarity. The road that has gotten me to this point in my life has been a bit of a bumpy one filled with tears and joy, heartache and rejoicing, but I wouldn't trade a second of it. I know that all I have faced in my life has brought me to a place of complete dependence on God. He is my sufficiency. I love the above verse and how it says that we are self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency. Without Him, we are nothing, but with Him...with Him we can change the world. There is nothing we cannot face. Now, I will be completely honest. There are few things that bother me more than namby, pamby women who trade their God-given abilities to hide in the shadows of men. I agree that God created order for families and created men to be the heads of households. But, He also created Eve from Adam's rib, so she could walk alongside him. Woman was not taken out of man's head to rule over him or his foot to be walked upon by him, but rather from his side to be in partnership next to him.
What's my point?
Well, my point is that I was really challenged and fired up a couple of weeks ago while at church. After a message about the importance of reaching out to the world around you, being the light of the world, there was an altar call. It was a time for those who want to answer the call of God to reach the communities of Phnom Penh, the provinces of Cambodia, the peoples of Southeast Asia, the nations of the world. I was humbled and challenged just to be in the same room as these people. And, as I prayed, I watched. I watched two girls, both aged 12, walk up to the front of that church. They were the only ones under the age of 20 who did so, though it was not for a lack of young people in the congregation that day. I know those girls. I know that in 12 years they have been through more than many people will endure in a lifetime--abuse, abandonment, rejection, exploitation. Yet, after encountering the Savior of the world, their lives are forever changed. And, if you asked them, I am quite confident that they would tell you that Jesus is the answer for the world today, and with that knowledge, how could they not take it to the ends of the earth...
These girls challenge me daily on what it means to live for Christ, what it means to forgive, what it means to receive His love and give it away. And, I am daily challenged not to be more independent or self-sufficient, but to be wholly dependent on Him and find my sufficiency in Christ.
"But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!" 2 Corinthians 12:9
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