Tuesday, January 1, 2013

U12 Part 1: Recognizing the Enemy

Happy New year!!!!

This week I had the opportunity to attend Urbana, a missions conference that is held once every three years. I had been looking forward to this for a while now, as I had been pondering about what to do with my life after getting my degree. I wanted to know if what I had felt God calling me to do these past few months was really what He wanted. I had an idea and I wanted to go to this conference so that I could get some insight, guidance, connections, and information about where to go from here. I was very excited for this event.

Little did I know that Satan would be there too. Before I left, I caught a cold and the long ride there in a bus with an inconsistent temperature didn't help. My sickness got worse as we arrived and during the first night, I found trouble enjoying the worship. Many other little things that usually wouldn't bother me frustrated me as well and it seemed that all the excitement I previously had had left me.

The next day, I woke up with my throat feeling sorer than ever; my nose was still stuffy and running. I continued to attend the conference activities anyway, thinking that I didn't want to make a waste out of this opportunity.  Although I was able to listen to what the speakers had to say, I found myself having trouble processing my thoughts and doubted myself. At one of the seminars, I sat with my friend and was told that, I looked a little "out of it". I was also advised to get some rest.

At the end of the day, I was exhausted and I had developed a cough. I thought about what my friend had  said to me, and during one of the night sessions, a speaker also mentioned that people who were sick should get some rest and that it'd be OK to miss a few activities. It was then that I realized Satan was trying to tire me out and prevent me from making the most out of the conference. Then I reminded myself why I came to the conference and that it was absolutely not tolerable for me to waste this trip here. I needed to push Satan away from me and overcome the temptation to be easily frustrated by the little things and readjust my vision.

I decided to skip the activities and sleep in for the next two days. During those days I got the rest I needed, and attended the seminars energized. I took lots of good notes, and was able to process things that were said. I pushed through and God gave me the clarity and instruction I needed to continue His work. I was a little disappointed that I let myself forget the purpose of why I was at Urbana, but glad that God had sent a few friends along to make sure that I would find my way back to Him.


Turn Your Eyes (chorus only)

On another note, I read Acts 7&8 today.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Feel free to leave a comment.