Enduring Everything

 
Everything.
The bad stuff.
The hard things.
The uncomfortable stuff.
The stuff no one wants.
We endure that stuff for the gospel. 
[That makes sense.]
 
But did you ever think that everything also means the good stuff?
 
Hear me out…
 
The stuff that is so good that we feel like we don’t deserve it.
The stuff that really is legitimately easy.
The comfortable stuff.
The things that people do want.
And they ask and ask for…but we just got.
 
Did you ever think that we might have to endure those things for the gospel too?
 
That’s where I’m at.
For me, right now, having things is hard.
For me, right now, enduring the bad would be a lot easier than enduring the good.
Right now, what God wants to teach me is exactly what I don’t want to learn.
But it’s exactly what I need to.
 
I’ve been having a real hard time with South Africa so far.
I’ve wanted to come to Africa since I was little. Ever since I can remember, really.
And I had a pretty normal view of Africa.
Dirt roads. Small villages. Huts. Tribes. Bucket showers. Orphans. Bare feet. Singing. Dancing. Praising. Africans. Africa.
And then I was assigned to South Africa.
And I wasn’t happy.
But I got over it.
Because I trust God.
And then I got to South Africa.
 
And our team moved into our little house for the week.
And I slept in the most comfortable bed in the whole entire world.
The ocean is our front yard. Literally.
The weather is perfect.
The people are really nice.
There are penguins just walking around. Everywhere.
It is literally the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Ever.
It is perfect.
I hate it.
 
I hate that I am not in the middle of nowhere.
I hate that I am somewhere so nice.
I hate that this is so easy and so comfortable.
I hate that it’s so civilized, so Americanized, so normal.
 
I hate it.
But I need it.
 
I need to learn to relax.
I need to learn how to deal with having free time.
I need to learn to just be with God, even when I’m not doing anything for Him.
I need to learn to witness to the people who have heard.
Over and over again, they have heard. But they just don’t care.
Mostly, I need to learn to be content with having.
 
It’s easy to be a good missionary when you don’t have anything.
It’s a lot harder when you do.
It’s easy to be a good Christian when Christ is all you have.
It’s a lot harder when you have anything you could possibly want.
 
So that’s where I’m at.
Learning to be happy with having.
And it’s surprisingly much harder than being happy without.

I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content – whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.
(Philippians 4:11-12)