Extraordinary sacrifice

Dictionary definition of extraordinary: Beyond what is usual, ordinary, regular, or established.

Life could be so much more extraordinary if I lived with the mindset that in order to live a life that would count for God, I would have to look for ways and be willing to step outside my comfort zones. I wish I was like that. I wish that I could say that I have been faithful in looking for a way to do something that would make a difference even if it was awkward or uncomfortable or frightening to me every single day, but if I was honest, I would say I definitely haven't. This week I was at a conference and Heidi Baker, founder of Iris ministries in Mozambique, was speaking. She asked the question, "What would YOU do for God if the inheritance He says He promised you was actually real?"

What's the answer to that question? I think for each of us it's different, and yet as Christians we all SHOULD have one thing in common; love. The person who resonates the love of the Father towards His children is attractive! If the name of Jesus never came out of my mouth without someone prompting it, would the world be able to tell that *I* were a child of God? Does MY life mirror the heart of my heavenly Father in a way that would make people want to be around me because I'm different than the others?

I'm stepping into a new season. Since the time that I was 11, my social life has always been number one. Friends, parties, movies, the next social event. Hands down, it was always the most important thing to me. I thrived off of interactions with my friends. Surprisingly, when I moved back to being right down the road from them, THAT'S when I started changing. I can honestly say in a million years I never thought that NOW would be when I'd have my "social crisis," but slowly I find myself coming to all these unexpected conclusions. Slowly, little by little, God has begun to strip away my attachments to my precious social life, and He has begun to impart into me an understanding of how important my time is to Him. He's jealous for MY time. He wants MY time. For HIS purposes. A friend of mine once made a really amazing yet extremely simple point that has stuck with me for months now. She said, "Jesus DIED for YOU. He went through the most excruciating pain, and all He desires, is our time. How dare we have the GUTS to tell him NO?"

Powerful words. Sadly, I forget them all too often. My prayer for my life is that I would start remembering more often that every second of my short time here on this earth counts either for something or nothing. Time is too short to waste.

Dictionary definition of sacrifice: the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.

THE definition of extraordinary sacrifice? The cross. The reason for it? The holiest purest love anyone could ask for.

So what does extraordinary sacrifice look like for me? Living outside my comfort zone. Simple as that. God didn't ask me to die on a cross. He did that for me. His one greatest desire is for me to understand how much He loves me, and then for me to be able to take the joy and beauty that comes out of that knowledge and spread it to the people around me and around the world. That's what my extraordinary sacrifice looks like. If every Christian would strive to love the way Jesus loved, even in our humanistic imperfections, how much better would that make the world? Perhaps 32% of teens wouldn't attempt suicide, maybe kids in Africa wouldn't be mercilessly made into murderers, and just possibly, it would be easier for broken hearts to heal. There will always be pharisees, there will always be Sunday school Christians, and there will always be people hurting people, but MY goal for MY life, is to do my best to mirror God's love to others. I'll never be a perfect person, but God sees me as beautiful. He is pleased when His children desire to walk out a life of love.

The smallest and unworthy sacrifice I could ever give in exchange for the greatest most extraordinary sacrifice of all, is my life for His purposes. I know I'm not super woman. I know I can't save the world, but God can change it, and He can use me to help accomplish that. In the words of Helen Keller:

"I am only one, yet still I am one,
I cannot do everything, but still I can do something,
and because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do,
the something that I CAN do"

Be looking for more blog updates soon as I am preparing to head to China for two months this summer. Today was just my two cent's worth. :)

With Love,
Hannah