Twenty-twelve has always seemed so far away to me. I remember being in
elementary school and counting on my fingers how many years it would take me to
reach twelfth grade: “It’ll be 2008 when I graduate high school! That’s so far away!” I’d say. And when 2008
came and went, I set my sights on college. What
year will it be when I’m done? I mused. Bring out the fingers again. Nine, ten, eleven, twelve—two-thousand
twelve? Wow. I had never said those words before. And by the time I
graduated I would be—it was nearly incomprehensible for me to think this far
ahead—out of my teen years and into my twenties! (And I’m not telling you if I
had to use my fingers to count that out…obviously, I didn’t major in math).
All through high school, and especially during my senior year, I was asked about my future plans. My response was always the same: “I will go to college and then become a missionary to Moldova.” That statement, repeated in flowery, complex sentences for scholarship applications, in fits of smiles to fellow churchgoers, and in firm determination to those who were skeptical of an overseas mission in a third-world country, sustained me throughout high school. It provided a goal to which all my hard work pointed.
It’s amazing how speaking life into an otherwise bleak situation generates faith.
The only bleak aspects of my situation were that (a) I had no money to get into or stay in college and (b) I had no idea how or when I was getting to Moldova—or what I would do if I arrived there.
The unbleak-aspects of my situation—in fact, the blazingly bright aspects—were that God had put in my heart at age 12 to go to Evangel, and that he had called me to Moldova at age 16. But was that enough? Were visions and affinities and undeterred passions enough? I submit to you that yes, they were. And not because of me; because of Him. I do not advocate the if-you-want-something-so-bad-it’ll-happen stance, but what I do advocate is the if-God-has-spoken-to-You-He-will-bring-it-to-pass stance. Both stances require great personal effort. But one stance is fueled by the breath of the Holy Spirit with force enough to see you through.
In faith, I applied to only one university and was accepted. In faith, I began the Intercultural Studies program and entered the world of undergraduate academics in which I found that the more I learned, the more I realized I did not know. In faith, I sensed the Lord’s leading to expand my learning into other areas of study—by my sophomore year I added a major in English, minors in French and Biblical Studies, and a certification in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. And in faith, I still hoped to graduate in four years. Normally, with more than one major, people graduate in five years; however, I sensed the need for me to be finished in four. With the number of required credit hours mounting, I took on a full class load each semester.
Now, I can do some simple math: more classes equals more credit hours equals larger school-bills. But the Lord’s leading also equals the Lord’s providing. I remember sitting at home after each semester at the time when the bill was due for the upcoming semester and wondering if I could return to school to finish my degrees. And each semester the bill somehow was paid in full. Somehow, I never went into debt. And now, four years and $96,000 later, all I can say is that “[t]he One who calls you is faithful and He will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). The One who calls, not the One who called. Even when the end is not in sight, God’s calling still remains.
Last summer, before my senior year, I was at a loss as to my next step directly after college. I had many options, but I didn’t want to settle for just any good choice; I wanted (and still want) God’s best. After a time of fasting and prayer, I felt God asking me to consider what I know for sure and then to act on it. I knew for sure that I was called to Moldova; I just didn’t know when. So I emailed missionaries Andy and Nancy Raatz to ask if I could assist to them and their country at some point after graduating college. Their reply was that yes, I could be of help now because they are in need of and have been praying for a teacher for their girls for quite some time. They need a teacher to come in August 2012, and they asked me to prayerfully consider serving with them. After a month more of serious prayer about this assignment, in which numerous confirmations came, I emailed to announce that yes, I would serve with them in this capacity. After committing, the reality of what I had done sunk in. Wow, I thought. So this is why I felt the need to be finished with college in four years. If I had stayed for five, I would have missed this opportunity. God’s opportunity for me.
Isn’t it amazing when God impresses on us things that we must do in order to properly align ourselves for the future God has for us? “How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you!” (2 Samuel 7:22)
Three years ago when I felt the need to finish college in four years, I came up with a little saying to motivate myself toward that goal. I have never seen the Star Wars movies, but I’ve heard them quoted enough to get the gist of some of them. One phrase I’ve heard over the years has been made infamous by Yoda: “Do or do not. There is no try.” What Jedi Master Yoda may not have known was that his statement carries biblical overtones.
You see, God calls us with the end in sight. He doesn’t give us a vision without intending to fulfill it, and he doesn’t give us a burden without an outlet for displaying our passion for things that move the heart of God. Philippians 2:13 speaks of this: “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” When I came across this verse shortly after committing to serve in Moldova, it was as if I were reading it afresh, for the first time. God not only gives us the will to do something; He also works in us to act! Both will-ing and act-ing are works of God! God does not just implant us with a desire to accomplish something and then leave us to do with the desire what we will. I am aware that, given human free will, we can choose to let desires die, but knowing that God’s practice is to give us a vision and then bring it to pass as we actively demonstrate a reliance on him is liberating!
What else does Philippians say about this? Further confirmation is found in Philippians 1:6, in which the Apostle Paul is confident that “[H]e who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” God doesn’t leave His people to “try,” to fend for themselves and work things out on their own. There is no trying here: only doing!
So I modified the phrase a bit. I put a little addendum on there, so it reads “Do or Do Not: 2012.”
Thanks, Yoda.
I felt that adding the year was especially significant. It is the year I graduate college. It is the year I take my first step into the “real world.” And it is the year where God’s calling on my life to overseas service is finally realized. Not may be realized but will be realized. This year. And what gives me the gumption to make such a statement? Perhaps, God’s history of providing for me aside, it is the verse I saw on one side of Evangel University’s clocktower: “Thus far has the Lord helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12). I read this verse nearly every day as I passed the clocktower, but one spring afternoon this semester it struck me with such force that tears sprang into my eyes. Thus far He has helped me. And I knew in my spirit that I will always be able to say that. Never will I have to look back and say, “That was the time God helped me,” or “God used to help me.” His help never ceases.
“Do or Do Not: 2012” has been my anthem cry since I began college. This has already been a year of nearly inexpressible victory. And it’s not over. Far from it. College has been conquered, leaving four years of wonderful memories and a treasure-trove of lifelong friends in its wake. But 2012 is only half over.
With only three months left before my slated departure from the U.S., I stand at the brink of either complete failure or miraculous victory—and I choose to trust God for the latter. With a monthly budget and a base cash budget which are still thousands of dollars from being reached—but need to be reached before I leave for Moldova—I know that nothing is too hard for God.
Last week, during one of those moments when I was feeling the time-crunch of my situation, I wondered, Isn’t there a verse that says nothing is too difficult for God? If I can just hear Him telling me that He can do anything, I’ll be okay! Funny how I can go from a trusting to a troubled mentality so quickly. But the Lord met me in my weakness with this verse: “I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27) Not only is God’s invincibility written about in the Bible; it’s a direct quote from His mouth to our lives! And He is God of all the peoples of the world. God of the people of Moldova. Of the United States. God of me. And God of you.
What is God asking you to step out in faith for today? Big or small, it’s all the same to Him. God has no difficulty-levels. If nothing is too hard for him, then everything is possible for him—equally possible.
What’s your anthem? What’s your battle cry?
And who’s your God?
“There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty” (Deuteronomy 33:26).
Do or do not. There is no try.
All through high school, and especially during my senior year, I was asked about my future plans. My response was always the same: “I will go to college and then become a missionary to Moldova.” That statement, repeated in flowery, complex sentences for scholarship applications, in fits of smiles to fellow churchgoers, and in firm determination to those who were skeptical of an overseas mission in a third-world country, sustained me throughout high school. It provided a goal to which all my hard work pointed.
It’s amazing how speaking life into an otherwise bleak situation generates faith.
The only bleak aspects of my situation were that (a) I had no money to get into or stay in college and (b) I had no idea how or when I was getting to Moldova—or what I would do if I arrived there.
The unbleak-aspects of my situation—in fact, the blazingly bright aspects—were that God had put in my heart at age 12 to go to Evangel, and that he had called me to Moldova at age 16. But was that enough? Were visions and affinities and undeterred passions enough? I submit to you that yes, they were. And not because of me; because of Him. I do not advocate the if-you-want-something-so-bad-it’ll-happen stance, but what I do advocate is the if-God-has-spoken-to-You-He-will-bring-it-to-pass stance. Both stances require great personal effort. But one stance is fueled by the breath of the Holy Spirit with force enough to see you through.
In faith, I applied to only one university and was accepted. In faith, I began the Intercultural Studies program and entered the world of undergraduate academics in which I found that the more I learned, the more I realized I did not know. In faith, I sensed the Lord’s leading to expand my learning into other areas of study—by my sophomore year I added a major in English, minors in French and Biblical Studies, and a certification in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. And in faith, I still hoped to graduate in four years. Normally, with more than one major, people graduate in five years; however, I sensed the need for me to be finished in four. With the number of required credit hours mounting, I took on a full class load each semester.
Now, I can do some simple math: more classes equals more credit hours equals larger school-bills. But the Lord’s leading also equals the Lord’s providing. I remember sitting at home after each semester at the time when the bill was due for the upcoming semester and wondering if I could return to school to finish my degrees. And each semester the bill somehow was paid in full. Somehow, I never went into debt. And now, four years and $96,000 later, all I can say is that “[t]he One who calls you is faithful and He will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). The One who calls, not the One who called. Even when the end is not in sight, God’s calling still remains.
Last summer, before my senior year, I was at a loss as to my next step directly after college. I had many options, but I didn’t want to settle for just any good choice; I wanted (and still want) God’s best. After a time of fasting and prayer, I felt God asking me to consider what I know for sure and then to act on it. I knew for sure that I was called to Moldova; I just didn’t know when. So I emailed missionaries Andy and Nancy Raatz to ask if I could assist to them and their country at some point after graduating college. Their reply was that yes, I could be of help now because they are in need of and have been praying for a teacher for their girls for quite some time. They need a teacher to come in August 2012, and they asked me to prayerfully consider serving with them. After a month more of serious prayer about this assignment, in which numerous confirmations came, I emailed to announce that yes, I would serve with them in this capacity. After committing, the reality of what I had done sunk in. Wow, I thought. So this is why I felt the need to be finished with college in four years. If I had stayed for five, I would have missed this opportunity. God’s opportunity for me.
Isn’t it amazing when God impresses on us things that we must do in order to properly align ourselves for the future God has for us? “How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you!” (2 Samuel 7:22)
Three years ago when I felt the need to finish college in four years, I came up with a little saying to motivate myself toward that goal. I have never seen the Star Wars movies, but I’ve heard them quoted enough to get the gist of some of them. One phrase I’ve heard over the years has been made infamous by Yoda: “Do or do not. There is no try.” What Jedi Master Yoda may not have known was that his statement carries biblical overtones.
You see, God calls us with the end in sight. He doesn’t give us a vision without intending to fulfill it, and he doesn’t give us a burden without an outlet for displaying our passion for things that move the heart of God. Philippians 2:13 speaks of this: “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” When I came across this verse shortly after committing to serve in Moldova, it was as if I were reading it afresh, for the first time. God not only gives us the will to do something; He also works in us to act! Both will-ing and act-ing are works of God! God does not just implant us with a desire to accomplish something and then leave us to do with the desire what we will. I am aware that, given human free will, we can choose to let desires die, but knowing that God’s practice is to give us a vision and then bring it to pass as we actively demonstrate a reliance on him is liberating!
What else does Philippians say about this? Further confirmation is found in Philippians 1:6, in which the Apostle Paul is confident that “[H]e who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” God doesn’t leave His people to “try,” to fend for themselves and work things out on their own. There is no trying here: only doing!
So I modified the phrase a bit. I put a little addendum on there, so it reads “Do or Do Not: 2012.”
Thanks, Yoda.
I felt that adding the year was especially significant. It is the year I graduate college. It is the year I take my first step into the “real world.” And it is the year where God’s calling on my life to overseas service is finally realized. Not may be realized but will be realized. This year. And what gives me the gumption to make such a statement? Perhaps, God’s history of providing for me aside, it is the verse I saw on one side of Evangel University’s clocktower: “Thus far has the Lord helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12). I read this verse nearly every day as I passed the clocktower, but one spring afternoon this semester it struck me with such force that tears sprang into my eyes. Thus far He has helped me. And I knew in my spirit that I will always be able to say that. Never will I have to look back and say, “That was the time God helped me,” or “God used to help me.” His help never ceases.
“Do or Do Not: 2012” has been my anthem cry since I began college. This has already been a year of nearly inexpressible victory. And it’s not over. Far from it. College has been conquered, leaving four years of wonderful memories and a treasure-trove of lifelong friends in its wake. But 2012 is only half over.
With only three months left before my slated departure from the U.S., I stand at the brink of either complete failure or miraculous victory—and I choose to trust God for the latter. With a monthly budget and a base cash budget which are still thousands of dollars from being reached—but need to be reached before I leave for Moldova—I know that nothing is too hard for God.
Last week, during one of those moments when I was feeling the time-crunch of my situation, I wondered, Isn’t there a verse that says nothing is too difficult for God? If I can just hear Him telling me that He can do anything, I’ll be okay! Funny how I can go from a trusting to a troubled mentality so quickly. But the Lord met me in my weakness with this verse: “I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27) Not only is God’s invincibility written about in the Bible; it’s a direct quote from His mouth to our lives! And He is God of all the peoples of the world. God of the people of Moldova. Of the United States. God of me. And God of you.
What is God asking you to step out in faith for today? Big or small, it’s all the same to Him. God has no difficulty-levels. If nothing is too hard for him, then everything is possible for him—equally possible.
What’s your anthem? What’s your battle cry?
And who’s your God?
“There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty” (Deuteronomy 33:26).
Do or do not. There is no try.
