Thursday, August 25, 2011

Sacrifice

Here’s the scenario: I am living a very comfortable life here in the States. God calls me to go to a third world country and live in comparatively deplorable conditions to love and serve the least of these. Is that a sacrifice?

What is “sacrificing?” If God has a destiny for me to walk out, a path that He guides, and I’m walking a slightly or greatly different path... is it a sacrifice for me to follow after Him?

What does “sacrifice” really mean? One definition by Dictionary.com is “the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.” Hmm. How can I possibly call something “prized” or “desirable” if it’s not what God has for me?

A point referring back to the beginning scenario: I am much more excited or even willing to throw myself into that situation than to more simply give up time and effort here in my local community, which feels like more of a “sacrifice.” I desire adventure; I improperly trust in my own eyes which cannot see quite the same grandeur and gravity in the latter as in the former. Perhaps the romantic allure of “all in” is all that sweeps my concrete feet off the ground.

But now the adventure is in allowing God to reveal the truth as I move in step with His leading...