Monday, 1/26/09, Day 75, Joshua 2:1-24

When you confront obstacles, are you more likely to see them as problems or opportunities? hmmmm.........this reminds me a lot of what I heard during the HIM conference. For those who went, do you guys remember Keith Battle? He was the guy who talked about the pearl? Well, if you don't remember or have no idea of what I am talking about then I will summarize what he said. Well, he basically said that the bad situations we encounter can be good if you try to look at it from another perspective. "You need to find the good in every bad." He used the example of an oyster's pearl to prove his point. I think Stephanie already made a post about this somewhere.....? Well, anyways you know how grains of sand(?) enter the shell making the oyster very irritated. So the oyster struggles to deal with this new found irritation. In the end, the product of all the struggle and pain is a pearl. *gasp* Well yea....the struggling and pain is obviously the bad and the pearl is the good.

Keith Battle made a big impression on me when he said these really true things (keep in mind that he talks pretty fast and i was not able to write what he said word for word XP)

"Who have I met that I am glad I have met that I wouldn't have met if it wasn't for this painful situation?" relationship pearl

"What book have I read that I wouldn't have read because of my painful situation?" exposure pearl

"How much more sensitive am I to other people because of the result of my painful situation?" ministry compassion(?) pearl

"How many more conversations I had with God because of the situation I am going through that I wouldn't have conversations with God about if I wasn't in this pain?" prayer-like pearl

"How much closer to God am I today because of the things I've gone through." spiritual embassy(?) pearl

"What career change have I made as a result of my painful experience?" professional pearl

yeh....so it is pretty straightforward. He pointed out that the obstacles we go through are opportunities. The situation will stay grim, if you continue to choose to look at it in that way. O yeah......if you guys did not go to the HIM conference last year, then you guys should totally go to the HIM conference this year(?) It was very insightful, had a lot of good speakers and it was overall entertaining. XD

If you want to hear Keith actually speak....here's the link:
http://www.himonline.org/vid/vid_ba2008/dvd105.html

here's the homepage to the HIM conference thing : http://www.himonline.org/
you can watch videos of some of the speakers and you can listen to some of the speakers during their seminars......and yea XD

Day 75 - Rahab and the Spies

Monday, 1/26/09, Day 75, Joshua 2:1-24, When you confront obstacles, are you more likely to see them as problems or opportunities?

Rahab took a great risk when she defied her own government to shield the Israelite scouts. She could have given up the men to the soldiers and become a great heroine in her own land. Instead, she chose to see her situation as an opportunity to protect herself and her family for the future. And God blessed her descendants beyond her own wildest dreams.

Rahab's actions remind me of the story of Corrie Ten Boom and her family, who, during WWII, hid Jews and others from the Nazis. They saved 800 Jews and several Dutch underground workers from certain death. Several of her family members died in Nazi prisons because of their life work to protect others and lead them to Christ. Even in prison, she saw opportunities to live for the Lord. You can read her story on the web at http://www.corrietenboom.com/history.htm. She wrote The Hiding Place to tell their story of faith in action.

I am nothing like Rahab and Corrie. I often see obstacles as problems first. It usually takes me a while to contemplate, to mull over an obstacle before I begin to see it as an opportunity for spiritual growth and building character. The funny thing is, it's easier for me to see someone else's problems as opportunities than it is for me to see my own in the same way. Sometimes, it just takes someone else to bring me to the better perspective.