Monday, January 23, 2006
The Conveyor Belt
By Ramone - January 15, 2006
It's actually maybe called a "moving walkway", but "conveyor belt" is the first term I thought of and conveys the sense better. "Escalator" was another possibility.
My friend DB and I were separately planning different ways to help out groups of people in Osaka around Christmas time... but our different plans turned out to not work out this time. Yet we still felt God calling us and pulling us, even though our temporary hopes had been shot. I could still feel His path, His pull, calling me to those people.
I'd had to let go of a lot of self-imposed pressure to do stuff, let go of a bunch of good ideas. Sure, I knew these things before I began praying and before I began thinking of doing something. But actually experiencing the Spirit's halting & sifting was something remarkable. I felt myself becoming more still, and I could sense the difference in me between striving and Spirit, and I knew I had to just let the Spirit do His thing and let this be all Spirit.
The result (as I can envision it from here) is less glorious than I would've hoped for, and it's a low, humble path. Yet it's huge. It's bigger than I thought, bigger than I can imagine. When you give up your ideas and let the Spirit have His way, you give up your pride and your desires for something "big" to happen. Thus it's the humble, low, path. But putting it into His hands (instead of yours) means that it's bigger than you can imagine, and that you're part of something huge because you're part of His plan.
All the while I can feel something like a conveyor belt underneath me, aimed towards the people I was praying for. DB understood exactly how I felt and we had a good, wondering laugh at it! That's what happens when you rest in the Spirit -- you begin to see that He's moving things, He's in control, and it's bigger than you can see, but you have to let Him have it, you have to give up control and trying to shape it.
When Yoko saw this later, she remarked that God was giving me a lot of pictures of "paths" (see these: On His Path, Rain Down, Oct.9).
"It always has more & more; it doesn't end, and it's right in front of you. Sometimes even though you're on the right way you've wondered about it. I think God is giving you a lot of consolations... we still want a clear 'Yes' for the first step, but He's telling you that you don't have to worry about where & what to do; we just have to trust Him."
After my talk with DB that first night (December 3rd), we walked to the subway station and encountered... a moving walkway! I took a picture of it and couldn't help but put it in our Japanese New Year's postcard, just for fun. And just for Jesus. (Thanks, Jesus!)
# posted by Ramone @ 11:58 PM 
Post a Comment
Thank you for visiting! Please leave a message if you were blessed or have any questions. Additionally, please sign your name! I would love to reply and explain everything. If you have disagreements or would like to discuss something, please leave contact information so I can email you. Unsigned comments may be deleted.
Be blessed in His heart today! His heart is for you!