Refreshments, Anyone?

    

     Here is a public confession: I’m stupid. Now, don’t try and tell me different, all you compassionate people. It’s just true. But it’s ok, ‘cuz no matter how smart I am, there will always be someone smarter than me. I don’t have to be clever. I just have to follow the right Person.

     When I came home after going to the Word of Life Bible Institute for a year, I thought I was pretty clever. I thought that because I had spent a whole year studying the Bible, Satan would have a hard time tripping me up. I thought I would never go back to the person I had been. I was prideful. Yup, you know where this is going.

     Fall. Splat. After just a little while, I stopped reading the Bible consistently. I lost interest. I lived for myself instead of having a servant mindset. I fell back into old sins. I was basically useless.

     Around Christmas time, my dad asked me, “Have you thought about going back to WOL to help with summer camp?” Yeah, I had. But I procrastinated in trying to contact anyone to see if they could use me. Honestly, I didn’t really want to go back. It was too uncomfortable.

     Praise the Lord, He is faithful to pull me off my lazy rump! He hates my comfort zone way more than I do. He proved that once again, when I got a call from the STC coordinator earlier this year.

     STC stands for Summer Training Corps. It is a group of young people who do all the behind-the-scenes work during summer camp. Most of them are volunteering teenagers. They do everything from washing dishes to manning the rock wall.

     So, ring, ring, STC coordinator calls me and asks, “What are you doing this summer?”

     “I have a feeling you are about to tell me,” I think. I was right. He asked me to come back to WOL for the summer as an STC Supervisor, which means I would be over a few teenagers in a work area.

     Comfort zone collapse. Blam. I was a camp counselor last summer, but we got new campers every week. STC is nine weeks of working and living together. I felt unprepared to be in leadership for that amount of time.

     Turns out, I needn’t have worried. The four girls under my supervision were amazing. I had so much fun with them. Our work area was great too; we were in the camp bookstore! (Shout out, Michelle Black!)

     God used this summer to remind me that I have to trust and obey, because there seriously is no other way. I realized that I needed discipline and accountability. I needed to stay rooted in His Word and pray continually. Not because I should, but because I love Him and desire to know Him more. It’s nothing I did not know before, but like I said, I’m stupid, and I forget. I am so thankful that He continues to remind me. He is faithful. 

     Friend, we are all stupid. But it’s ok. It doesn’t surprise God. He doesn’t want us to get smart, He wants us to get into Him. Let me encourage you to get refreshed. Put aside distractions for a while. Spend some time – yes, a long time – reading the Bible. Pray. Ask God to continually turn your heart toward Him. It is one thing in your life that you will never regret. And don’t stop there. Joshua 1:8 says that if we meditate on the Word all day every day, we will be successful. I don’t know about you, but I want to be successful in God’s eyes.

Post Tenebras Lux!
-ST
     Philippians 3:8-14

(Lemonade picture: wikipedia.org. Word of Life Summer Camp Instagram picture taken by the WOL Tech Guys)