Pass the Salt, Please

As I sit down to blog for the first time in months (due to a season of studying and test-taking) I feel as though I have just sat down to coffee with a good friend whom I haven’t seen in a while.  Being SO excited to share all that God has done; but overwhelmed by His goodness, I am at a loss for words not knowing where to begin.

God traded me pepper for salt; He took away the smelly allergen, for a thirst quencher!  He made me stop thinking and reacting with a spice that only made me weak with the sniffles and replaced it with one that made me dependent for His flowing water of life.  He intertwined His Word, multiple teachings, books, newly formed relationships, and mentorship to reveal common themes of His thoughts, to rid me of my thoughts.  I could write story after story…but where would I start?  My blog left off on point A and I am now at point E….there are many ups and downs, twists and turns between the two points, but thankfully the direct path between Point A and Point E is a straight line.

This straight line connects God’s revelation in my life from October of last year, to now; where He is forming His revelation to a broadened, more defined understanding of what that revelation should be. In October God told me to take His message of Psalm 139:14 to the world…He used a song by Brit Nicole to speak to me.  “I Want to Set the World on Fire”.

At the time of my revelation, I clearly heard the Lord tell me to take His message to everyone and anywhere that He would send me. I heard the whole song, but neglected to hear the most important verse.  In fact I resisted it.  I interpreted based off my perception what I wanted to hear. AKA, selective hearing.

Praise Jesus, he took my perspective and shattered it, then reconstructed it to his perspective, opening my eyes to His glorious vision.

My Perspective:

Take the message of Psalm 139:14 to girls just like you, in North America, who struggle with their physical appearance, lies from pop culture, and past heart aches that have become their false insecure identities.  Take this message to schools, camps, different organizations, teams etc. To girls who struggle with the day- to- day of gossip, mean boys, and family rejection.  Tell these girls they don’t need more stuff, adequate talents, a perfect physical appearance, or a boyfriend to have worth or a purpose; they simply need Jesus!

Not a “bad” perspective.

BUT just as I neglected to recognize the rest of the song “Set the World of Fire”  I neglected to see beyond Psalm 139:14; to study how Jesus tangibly shared these truths when He walked this Earth.  To see who His audience was; who my audience should be. (Matt19:23, Mark 10:23-25)

 Gods perspective

You want to set the “World on Fire’?...the world is not JUST North America…you asked me to send you everywhere….to tell anyone? 

Then Ash, why did you neglect the part of the song that says, “I want to feed the starving children, and reach across the farthest land, tell the broken there is healing, mercy in the Fathers hand”?…

Because that made my revelation costly, and no longer comfortable.  That made Psalm 139:14 not only a message I believed, but a message that needed to be followed out with action.

Don’t stand in front of white, middle-class girls with hair extensions in your head, a face full of make-up and pretend to know what TRUE beauty is all about.  Don’t “inspire” in an air-conditioned building that you arrived to in your brand new car… Don’t show up wearing designer logos with platform wedges, and think you are being stretched… (Matt 10:5-11)

Rather, GO to all nations. Be with people who are not like you…people who understand what it means to be poor, to be hungry, to be naked, to be dirty.  Clothe them.  Feed them.  Wash them.  Brush their hair, wash their feet.  Tell those beautiful orphans who were abandoned by their parents for a buck, that they have a Daddy in Heaven who is CRAZY about them and gave His own life for their sake!  Tell those stunning young woman who have been enslaved to evil men, that their worth and freedom can be found and restored through Jesus.  Tell them their Creator gives them worth through Himself; that He made plans of their arrival to earth before the beginning of time.  That this Creator who intricately made them to be a marvelous individual, created them in His Marvelous image. 

Don’t just tell them, SHOW them!  Be dirty with them, learn what it means to be hungry, give your clothes to them, find them healing, teach them…give them all your time and energy.  Be their friend.  Find out what makes them special, then celebrate it!

WOW! A bit more hefty than my perspective.

By no means do I demean or deny that there is a need for young girls in America to fully comprehend who they are through a marvelous Creator.  Is it wrong to wear make-up, be in air-conditioned buildings, drive a new car, wear plat form wedges?….NO!  But when the American Dream is replaced by Gods dream, when happiness is traded for holiness, and when being comfortable is more desirable than being uncomfortable…. “Houston, we have a problem!”

It is impossible to study Jesus’ life and find that He was ever comfortable, self-serving, or chasing a personal dream; rather He was always living outside of himself, by denying himself (Philippians 2:6-8).  He commanded us to love the “least of..” because we could love Him by doing so (Matt. 25: 35-40).  Multiple times throughout His gospels, He instructs that believing Him was simply not enough…it MUST conclude with following Him by leaving EVERYTHING behind,  starting and ending with any form of comfort…  To follow Jesus means to literally do as He did; to make His ways my ways; his thoughts, my thoughts.

So where do I go from here?  I am praying, seeking, asking, that He will enable me a way to GO.  To diligently seek being uncomfortable.  Not walking out of my house in the morning without being completely surrendered as a vessel for Him.  God made me to be an inspiration.  Whether that means to the teller at my bank, the enslaved girls in down town Phoenix or to 8-year-old Sarah who is deaf and poor, but whose ceaseless joy changed my world one Saturday morning…I will not simply tell them how marvelously made they are, BUT I WILL SHOW THEM!

I’m excited to share what God has done in my next “coffee date” with you… lets not make it months till next time!