Learning God's Lessons

        

I'LL GO WHERE YOU WANT ME TO GO

          It may not be on the mountain’s height, or over the stormy sea;
             It may not be at the battle’s front my Lord will have need of me;
              But if by a still, small voice He calls to paths I do not know,
            I’ll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in Yours,
         I’ll go where You want me to go.

Refrain

I’ll go where You want me to go, dear Lord,
O’er mountain, or plain, or sea;
I’ll say what You want me to say, dear Lord,
I’ll be what You want me to be.

Perhaps today there are loving words which Jesus would have me speak;
There may be now, in the paths of sin, some wand’rer whom I should seek.
O Savior, if You will be my Guide, though dark and rugged the way,
My voice shall echo the message sweet,
I’ll say what You want me to say.

     I memorized the words to this song when I was in grade school. I remember visualizing missionaries on the field and how they gave their lives to serve God in such an exotic way. What I have come to understand as an adult is that I live on a mission field wherever I am!  I don't know if the hard part is so much going to a place where God would want me to be as much as saying what God wants me to say and being what God wants me to be.

    We have a brand new Sonic drive-in restaurant here in Yucca Valley. The grand opening of the restaurant was about 2 weeks ago; the restaurant has had to hire people to direct traffic because everyone in town is practically dying to pull up to one of the outdoor menus and be waited on by a server on skates. Finally, as my husband and I were coming home from the church today, we noticed that the line of cars waiting to get into the parking lot of Sonic was not 20-30 deep, so we decided to pull in and order lunch. A lady who was driving a nice Lexus very rudely pulled in front of us to get a space first. My husband and I began to discuss the rudeness of society in general, and how everyone seems to be out for "good old #1."  

     My husband often refers when he is preaching to how God has called on Christians to be a "peculiar" people. 

     Society says, "Speak your mind"; the Bible has a lot to say about the words we speak with that little member of our bodies, the tongue. James 3:13 says, Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. 

     Society says, "This is just the way I am; you're just going to have to accept me this way." The Bible says in
John 17:17, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.'' Sanctification is a process by which we as Christians are to be made holy and pure and set apart so we can be used for the glory of God. Well, sanctification is a process that won't end until we get to Heaven and get rid of our sinful bodies. In other words, I shouldn't ever be satisfied with my present state, but I should be striving to please the Lord by learning how He wants me to be and changing in order to be what He wants me to be. 

     Society says, "My job defines me; my house defines me; my popularity defines me; my position in the church defines me; etc."  Galatians 2:20 says I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. My identity as a Christian is to be in Christ alone.

     What does all of this mean to me? It means that I am a child of the King; I have been bought and paid for with a price, and although God will not force me to honor Him, I choose to honor Him with how I live my life. It means that when I want to wear my feelings on my sleeve for all the world to see, I shouldn't.  When I want to fight back and defend myself, I remember how meekly Christ took a crown of thorns, beatings, and ultimately the cross for me. When I want to pout and give the silent treatment, I have to ask myself if this is godly behavior--it is not. When treated in a snotty way, I want to react in a snotty way, but once again--would this be behaving with the mind of Christ? No way! Am I always successful in letting Christ live through me? I'm sad to say, no; everyday I struggle with the battle of the mind and the battle of the mouth. I won't ever be perfect, but I'm so glad to have a relationship with Christ who gives me the strength to overcome my weaknesses. I pray and ask for the Holy Spirit to guide me in my relationships with everyone with whom I come into contact. When I know that I will have to deal with someone who is behaving unpleasantly, I meditate on a portion of Nehemiah 8:10 (I changed the word "your" to "my") The joy of the Lord is my strength. I sure can't count on my own strength to behave in a way that would always be pleasing to the Lord. In my own strength I will be offended, angry, pouty, defensive, and opinionated; with Christ's strength, I can be something this world doesn't see much of--a very peculiar person indeed!

     So, Lord, I'll go where you want me to go; but even more importantly, I'll say what you want me to say, and I'll be what you want me to be--with Your help.