The Equipment to Serve So…spaz week is over, thank the Lord—and I think my teammates and all those in any kind of contact with me in the last 7 days would say the same thing, too. I think I’m finally caught up on everything, and I can focus on things that are important, like the Easter program. We’re having a meeting tonight to plan out the motions for a skit we’re doing. Of course, the two men in the group will be God the Father and Jesus. We have to use Trish as the Holy Spirit. I think God will forgive us if there’s any kind of gender/theological incorrectness there. J But, I’ve been processing a lot about direction in our lives from Christ. I’m reading a book called Experiencing God right now, and, although I think this guy has a lot of good things to say, I question how “always true” it is…as I do with most things in life, I guess. He seems to be saying (granted, I’m only 1/3 of the way through the book, so…) that when God calls you to something, He doesn’t base it on your gifts, but He gives you what you need to finish the assignment. I get this. It goes back to the expression, “God doesn’t call the equipped; He equips the called.” But, this guy used the example of the tabernacle—God gave the instructions for the tabernacle, and then told the Israelites to build it. The Israelites, in his illustration, didn’t come up with this idea of what they were going to do for God, God gave them the assignment and then told them how to do it. So, this guy’s saying (from what I can tell) that God never tells you to search out your gifts and then figure out what you should do for Him, it’s always the other way around. However, going back to the tabernacle example, God, yes, gave the assignment to build the tabernacle, but then skilled craftsmen got the job done. I mean, this place was awesome. Crazy architecture, crazy detailing, crazy amounts of gold, crazy tapestries and fabric work. Basically, it required people who were really good at what they did. So, God didn’t say, “Ok, take Joe Shmoe and tell him to make the curtain.” Joe Shmoe, who was really good at working with fabric, was commissioned for the job because that was his skill. So…I guess what I’m thinking here is that it’s not one way or the other. God uses both ways. He calls people who have a specific skill (for example, I wouldn’t want some random guy on the street performing surgery on me just because I had the need and he felt the call from the Lord…although, I’m sure God could work that way if He wanted to…), and He also equips people whom He calls (for example, I wouldn’t be here if this weren’t the case). So, basically, yes, we should always look for ways that God is working and join Him in that, not just asking Him to bless our own plans, but we shouldn’t ignore the path he’s led us on, either, or the skills that He’s given us to use. He’s given us talents for a reason. Basically, we can’t limit God to one way of working. Why the heck do we try to do this??? Any thoughts, oh faithful readers, would be welcomed and appreciated… P.S. Wonder of the day: Hiroaki, my wonderful, graduated buddy, came back and visited the school today. I was so excited to see him that I think I freaked him out a little bit J. He looks so grown up. It’s been great to see him go from meek, timid 8th grader to confident, leading 10th grader. And, I have to say, he’s turning into quite the little hottie, too! J