Life is great! You have everything figured out for the summer. You are going to get your priorities out of the way so that you don’t have to worry about them during all the wonderful plans you have in only a couple weeks. As you are preparing, you find out that you have a bunch of other activities between then and now to keep you busy. You didn’t expect this, and you want to back out. What good are these sudden events? When we travel through life, the Lord will allow surprises in life that will shake our ordinary lives to bring us out of our comfort zones, bless us, and mature us in Him.
Today, I will be heading off to train and then be a junior counselor for Sequoia Brigade Camp. My thoughts were that I would work on my homework for my AP class and get most of it out of the way before leaving for a month. However, my plans didn’t work out that way. I knew I had a week of a (Vacation Bible School) VBS going on, I didn’t realize that I would have a week a setup and another VBS afterwards. Even though I groaned at the thought of having my hands full for not one but three weeks, God blessed me in ways in which I would have missed out if I hadn’t been involved with them. While I may not have expected such occurrences, God planned it out for my good and prosperity to bring out a hopeful end.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11
During the first VBS, God gave me the chance to bond with the other counselors. While being with the children was important, the main spotlight for me involved bonding with the friends that I made while decorating a church and preschool and being there for each other as we took care of the children. Just moments before writing this, I realized that God was preparing me for this month when I will be a junior counselor. Cooperation and bonding with my fellow junior counselors, some of whom I may have never met or not know very well prior to today, will be necessary to work as a team as we prepare for camps and watch over the campers.
During the second VBS, I got to know a couple of my peers, but I was primarily focused on this sweet little boy named Austin. Throughout the week, I spent most of my time with him as we played around and connected with him unlike the other children there. While he was not old enough to accept Christ as his Lord and Savior, God used the VBS as a time to preach the foundational message of repentance and salvation at a young age so that when he understands, the seed will have already been planted in his heart. As a junior counselor, God will use me to interact with the children and be a witness to them, and God has prepared me the past four years and especially this half year and week.
Last month, I didn’t expect to have a packed schedule, but when I experienced what God planned for me, I had fun and got to meet new people, grow, and be prepared for this month. From now on, I can remember that when unanticipated situations befall upon me, God will carry me through. All I must do is trust in Him instead of my own understanding. I still need to finish my AP work before school starts, but in the meantime, I believe that God will use me from what I’ve learned and experienced in June in July. Plus, I have August to finish everything.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV)
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord , and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Proverbs 3:5-8
When you head into the misty sea of the unknown, you may be irritated or scared. You may feel like giving up under the load of everything going on. Nevertheless, keep pushing and fighting in God’s grace. Act as He leads you to move. Remember that in the end, if you call upon the Lord, you will prosper and grow in your faith. While God is working in you, you will become stronger. Always run through into the dark in faith as Jesus lights your way.
Have a great day!
COMMITTING TO GOD’S GRACE AND LOVE,
Jeremiah Yonemura
