The last two weeks have been so good. We have been preparing for outreach through much prayer and worship. Our speakers have been absolutely fantastic.
Last week we had Dan Baumann who has authored and published several books. He shares many stories and experiences that inspire others to passionately seek God. Dan used these experiences to guide his lectures and he brought up God’s love for us far more than anything else. Everyone enjoyed hearing him share about how Holy Spirit worked in his life. Dan’s personality was intriguing and it kept my attention easily. We all listened intently as he told his story about being in Iranian prison for nine weeks. Although it would have been great to hear that Dan rejoiced in prison and trusted God through it all, this was not the case. Dan shared that it was a struggle but it taught him so much. I can’t imagine how difficult this must have been. Prison changed Dan and he is thankful to God for his experience. Dan faith was inspirational and I will continue to apply a lot of what I learned.
What stood out to me about Dan is that he concentrated his whole message about how much God loves us. I expected a lecture about perseverance and enduring hardship from someone who had spent nine weeks in Iranian prison but Dan didn’t want to focus on himself. He also encouraged us to stop worrying so much about legalistic rules and obligations and to put our faith in Christ. His point was that God loves us more than we could ever imagine and is more committed to us than we are to ourselves. This was awesome to me because I worry about being right and understanding things so much. I am finally starting to learn that God does want to answer my questions but he wants me to trust Him first. To me, this is choosing not to overthink and over analyze. It also means being aware of that which is in my mind. I’m starting to like giving things over to God that I don’t understand. Maybe choosing to trust God rather than analyze and debate things that have happened to us, that we have no control of changing now is an act of faith? This acceptance is something that I am learning and putting into practice.
To me, it seems when we let go of things it allows me to feel God’s mercy and grace in my life. Mercy and grace in that there are things we cannot change and that God is not asking us to change. God is such a good God. I am thankful that God has brought me to Mazatlan and is giving me new experiences here. I am thankful that God is not an angry God; but merciful and good. Knowing God’s character has been a focus of DTS all along and I find that the more I learn about God character, the more I want to know him. I am also thankful that God had given me all kinds of experiences in Mazatlan. He has allowed me to seek him and to enjoy the city I am in.
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