Mo-min & Her Bargain with God

This is a follow up post from:
http://forever-i-am-changed.blogspot.sg/2014/11/strong-feelings-rational-thinking.html

GAOMIN (YOU REMIND ME OF MOSES)

One day, during one of my meet ups with Gaomin, I knew that my calling was full-time Christian ministry on the mission field. I was sure that I was born to live for God, suffer for God and die for God. But I contemplated and thought to myself... Missions? Maybe, just not now. Gaomin mentioned that I sounded like Moses, knowing that God has promised to give him the Promised Land and yet never reaching it. I then went home to understand Moses’ situation. Referring to Numbers 20:8-12, God had commanded Moses to speak to the rock for water. But Moses struck it twice instead. This incident of his blatant disobedience to God and taking the credit for bringing forth water (V10 Moses says, “Must we bring you water out of this rock?”) instead of attributing it to God was a serious offence. Apparently, in one of the commentaries (gotquestions.org) I read, this is how it was explained:

The water-giving rock is used as a symbol of Christ in 1 Corinthians 10:4. The rock was struck once in Exodus 17:6, just like Christ was crucified once (Hebrews 7:27). Moses’ speaking to the rock in Numbers 20 was to be a picture of prayer; instead, Moses angrily struck the rock, in effect, crucifying Christ again. His punishment for disobedience, pride, and the misrepresentation of Christ’s sacrifice was that he was barred from entering the Promised Land (Numbers 20:12).

So... it was because Moses sinned, that was why he never got to the Promise Land T_T There must be something that I have been doing that God sees as sin. I need to seek God and I need to pray. And so, this was my everyday prayer. That my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, would reveal His will to me.

MY BARGAIN WITH GOD

Never bargain with God. I have learnt not to take His love and mercy for granted. I have learned to fear Him more. In one of the combined cells again, I was teaching the lesson on Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and mother...” The only BIG reason why I was holding back my decision on doing missions was my parents. They wouldn’t support me. They would definitely be disappointed in me. But lo and behold, this lesson spoke to me the most. 

Here are my bargains and how God responded:

Can I work for a few more years, accumulate my savings, be financially stable and then go on regular mission trips? Sounds better. That works too, right?

Matthew 8:21-22

Another disciple said to him, “ Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

What does this Scripture mean? In one of the commentaries that I read, it says: If that disciple’s father was really dead, he wouldn’t even be there with Jesus but most definitely seeing to the arrangement of his father’s wake or funeral. So he was obviously lying. MAYBE he wanted to wait for his father to pass on and receive a portion of his assets, have enough money in his pocket and then follow Jesus. This Scripture was telling the disciple to get his priorities straight. 
Jasmin, get your priorities straight.

Okay. I get it.

But I cannot leave now, my parents would prefer for me to get a job and have a stable income first. This is what most people are doing.

Luke 14:26

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even their own life – such a person cannot be my disciple.

In this verse, the word hate that was translated from the original language means, “love less by comparison”. It doesn’t mean the negative kind of hate. A God of love would never advocate hatred of parents, spouses or siblings. Another focus is “even their own life”, can help us to understand the verse. All in all, total dedication to Jesus and the gospel, not alienation from family, is the goal.

Mark 10:29-30

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.

The emphasis in these verses isn’t de-valuing family ties, but bringing out the importance of the kingdom.

But I would need to give to my parents, right? How can I support my parents financially when I’m out there as a missionary? Am I not told to honor my parents; I have to take care of them.

Mark 7:6-13

Jesus rebukes those who come up with excuses just to get away from giving to their parents. What else can I say? If He has called me into this, wouldn’t He provide for us all?

God has been showing me the way, speaking to me and directing me. But there was I putting myself in a position of confusion, trying to run away from him with all sorts of excuses in which I thought was legit and logical. How faithless I was! Where was my trust to my God? Nowhere.