Proceed with Caution. This May Burn

This may end up being a long blog post, so I'm warning you in advance. It also may end up being a post where I speak very harshly, so I'm warning you in advance. There are some things that lay heavily on my heart and that spur me on to these thoughts and these claims.

As I recently went on vacation, I had a lot of time to contemplate things. A lot of time to talk to God. Mostly about the direction for where he wants me to go in the future. As I was face down in a prayer room in Jerusalem sobbing, I kept asking him what he wanted from me. Does he really want me to go to the places where people haven't heard the truth? How much will this cost THIS time? Haven't I given it all to him? Haven't I followed him despite the circumstances of this past year and the difficulty this experience has brought? Haven't I in the past walked away from things to show my love is greater for him than for anything else? As I reminded God of these things, as if he didn't already know, all I got was a simple response. A response that humbled my sinful heart. He asked me if He was worth it. He asked me if people hearing his word was worth it. I weighed the sacrifice in my head, but my heart immediately responded. But of course my Father is worth it. Christ is not speaking light heartily to us when he tells us to pick up our cross and follow him. So I am choosing to pick it up, even if I drag it and fall along the way.

As we count the cost of following him, I can't but help to ask some things. What are you doing for his kingdom? How are you seeking out our Father? I'm not talking about nodding your head to him every once in awhile because you write "God is good" on your facebook status. And I'm certainly not talking about you wearing a t-shirt that says "Jesus is my homeboy" because he is not your homeboy. He is your Lord. (I just really dislike those shirts, sorry) Have we forgotten the honor is it to be loved by him and forgiven by him?

Are we living our lives in such a way that we run away from sin? Or do we dance on the line, getting as close as we can. Paul cautions about even the APPEARANCE of evil. Not that you are actually doing something wrong, but that if it appears you are, you should walk away. How do you handle substances? What does your relationship with your boyfriend or girlfriend look like? Let us NOT live in sin while every once in awhile pretending like we are in perfect communion with God, when in all actuality we are stumbling every day over our sin in these different areas (and so many more that are not mentioned).

Why are we compromising? Why do these things have such a hold on us that we are willing to walk away from our first love? I have seen it so many times. I pray, and please pray with me, that my first love is always Christ. That I do not let the world get in the way of what he has called me to do. What he REQUIRES of us all. I have seen it in people I know who so badly want to get married. And they get married to a man or woman or does not passionately seek our God. Then they are stuck in a marriage that is mediocre and lacks vision and drive. These are some of the people who I know were called to missions. Called to life abroad for our Lord. I pray that this will still happen, but there is so much more to overcome. I can go back in my short life and remember conversations with those throughout my teenage years and college years who were on fire for God. That fire has slowly gone out and they are not serving him like they once desired to. Rise up! Go out! It's not too late! Do not let Satan fool you into thinking that you've missed the boat! The Lord will still use you in mighty ways! A fear of not doing what he has asked of me rests on my mind as I recall individuals who have come up to me and tell me they were once called to serve, and they didn't respond. May my heart be soft and ready to answer always!

Men... we need you! Rise up! You were made to lead. You were made to cast the vision and to show people how to fulfill it for the sake of my Lord. We need godly male leaders. With an unmatched character, with hearts willing to lay down their pride for the sake of putting the Lord first. There are so many great single women who you can choose to serve alongside you. Rise up! The harvest is plentiful and we need our men. Do not let apathy overtake you. Do not let responsibility take precedence over doing what God has told you to do. Will he not take care of you? The things he has placed in your heart and mind are there for a reason. Step out and lead. Step out in faith. I see the frustrations of so many women who are having to take on roles that they weren't intended to have because there are men who refused to answer the call. Answer our Lord. Go out.

Women... do not let marriage be the determining factor of whether or not you go out and serve. Follow our Lord. Let him be your first love. I understand the struggle of this. I see wonderful women into their 30's, 40's, 50's, and so on who were never married. But I can tell you that they never denied their first love. And how much more important is that? Why are we letting Satan use this to put a fear in us to the point where we compromise the type of person we marry or we sit around waiting for some guy to come along? I will say this much, if he can't keep up with you when you are serving the Lord wholeheartedly, then you do not need to be with him. The best illustration I've heard for this is that you should be running full force towards our Father. If you look over and someone is running alongside you, then maybe that's someone the Lord has for you. If you are looking BACK and slowing down for a man to catch up, I would encourage you to start running even faster. Let us not slow down because there is work to be done and we do not want these things to keep us from accomplishing what the Lord has before us. In the words of Lottie Moon (a worker among the Chinese at the ends of the 1800's and early 1900's) when asked if she had ever been in love:

“Yes, but God had first claim on my life, and since the two conflicted, there could be no question about the results.”

Oh that I could be so in love with my God that I would say the same even if it means remaining single like Lottie!

Church... We need to start acting like the church! We are His bride. We have been chosen to be his workers. We have been commanded to take care of the widowed and the orphaned. Instead of following the commands of my Lord, we have given this responsibility to the government, and the government is doing an awful job. There are babies and children who need dads and moms. There are widows who need the physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental support of the church. Let's rise to the occasion. We were made for this!

Some of you right now have already decided to stop reading, but for those of you who still are please consider this. You may not be called to serve overseas. And I can live with that. But you BETTER be called to stay and serve at home. You BETTER know what that means. And if you don't, ask for that direction of the Lord. If you aren't serving him at home I would tell you to pack up your stuff and go overseas. Or get plugged in real fast. If Jesus talked about the kingdom of God being near in his time, how much closer is it now? I wonder who is not hearing the truth because I am not always being obedient or listening to the Spirit's leading. I think that is all my heart can handle for now. If you made it this far in the blog thanks for hearing me out.

In Him,
Taryn