Christianity has a practical side which appeals to me a great deal. As a child I enjoyed number games. Even today I like to pass idle time by filling in the blanks of Sudoku puzzles. For me the appeal lies in the fact that puzzles have a beginning and an end. Puzzles are solvable; their challenge is a matter for the will to overcome, and nothing more. The puzzle of Christian living, for me, has been one I have endeavored to solve like a math problem. I have done this without understanding how my brain thinks.
According to my limited understanding of things, the Christian puzzle was answered most simply by Jesus when He quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. That is the “how” to be a Christian. He answered the great question of what God’s purpose is for our lives; how God hopes we will live. But, beyond the “how” lies the how, i.e., how do we accomplish the combination of loving God with everything that we are, and loving our neighbors as ourselves? For the answer to this, again, I looked to Jesus. “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (NIV, Acts 1:8) And so, I am here in Albania to be a witness for Him.
I realized today that my service has been dead in many ways. I do not seek the LORD at all times, and I feel especially frail in my witness when I am frustrated with a situation, another person, or myself. Being the superintendent of a crew which communicates in another language and is rooted in a foreign culture is challenging for reasons beyond counting. I have yet to find a task more taxing than the placement of concrete. Working in the rain will compound any and all frustrations. And so, I am feeling weak in God.
I thought that I had solved the puzzle; that being a Christian was a simple matter of doing. I am finding that the complexities of my walk are as numerous as the terrain of this world. If I am a servant, but lack the heart of what it means to be Christ-like, then how can I truly be a witness for Jesus? Unless I seek after God with the same passion that He is seeking me, how can I know how deep for me His love truly is, or how deeply I am to love my earthly sisters and brothers? I am going to bed now knowing that there is time enough to knock; time enough for a door to open.
albaniacalling 