rewards

I can't believe another week has come and gone.  The days just seem to flow into another and I feel like everyday is summer.  I love it!  We have more rain and clouds lately for this time of year than normal.  I guess Ontario is not the only place that is having unseasonable weather.  I have gotten so use to the sun that when it doesn't shine, it feels so dull.  Somedays I don't even know what day or month it is.  I loose track of time.  What a different pace than racing the north American clock back home.  With that different pace comes a lot of patience and perseverance.
We are coming to the six month mark in a couple weeks and I have spent a lot of time the last couple days reflecting on this time so far.  It has been an incredible ride and I have seen the hand of the Lord provide, guide, and lavish His love on us.  Our journey started years ago and now looking back, I believe it all happened for this very reason.  For us to bend our knee and serve Him with our everything.  Things haven't come easy and it has been a lot of work even getting here.  When I reflect back on some of the most intense times of my spiritual growth, it has been through hardships.  It takes a lot of energy and strength to not loose sight of our goals.  And sometimes they change along the way.  What's important though is to stay grounded in God's love.  No matter how hard things get, we know that the Lord loves us and will see us through.
A couple of Saturdays ago, I stroked off an item on my bucket list.  A group of us hiked Jumay, a volcano just outside Jalalpa.  It was intense and there were many times I felt like my legs were going to give out.  Being a long distance runner, I know that feeling all too well.  I was determined to keep going.  I just knew that all this hard climbing would pay off and we would make it to the top and be rewarded.  Amazing is really an understatement and I can't even describe the span of beauty.  I just couldn't help think how great our God is.  He breathed life into and formed with His own hands this earth.  As I stood in awe at the view of endless mountains and not even knowing where the sky met the earth, I praised Him.  I praised Him because He gave me the strength and perseverance to make it to the summit.  Stopping was not an option for me.  I can be a little stubborn and determined and yet at times in ministry those feelings fly out the window.  I would be lying if I said I didn't want to throw in the towel and let someone else do the hard work.  I learned something very important that day.  Not giving up, not throwing in the towel, to keep on going, even when you feel you have nothing left to give, God will bring you to a place where He will reveal His love and show you great things.  A reward worth all the hard labour.
I had been feeling a little empty.  That happens from time to time I think for most of us in our walk.  It's incredible how God meets us where we are.  Our acceptance is never based on our performance.  He just loves us.  I have been doing  some reading in the little spare time I have, but I came across this.  "the primary hindrance to satisfaction in our lives is refusing Him access to our empty place."  I know that as much as I like to say God fills that void, I often look to outside sources.  He is putting me in situations that are so out of my strengths and comforts that I truly need Him to fill me.  And more and more I now know that when I go into my day, I know it's in His strength not mine.
I have to share one last thing.  I opened up my bible yesterday and God literally threw this one at me.
Isaiah 40:31 says "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.  They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."