What's That, Lord?

Is that really you, Lord? How can you ask so much? Wasn’t it a gift from You? Didn’t You give it to me for a reason? I’ve already given it to You, so what more do You want? You can’t really mean it. Okay, if You really mean it, prove it. Give me a sign. What? Your command is enough? I already know what to do? Okay, I’ll do something, but why this? Why can’t I give something else? Maybe the translator, or the backpack, even the computer! Anything! Why this? Oh, come on, won’t you just give me a little sign? No? Just this feeling You’ve put in my heart? But is this really from You? How can I know? Oh, right. Of course it is. I wouldn’t have thought of this myself. Would I? Alright Lord. I know it’s from You. I know that You want this of me. I obey, Lord. Take my camera. It’s Yours already. I gave it to You when I bought it. If You choose that it should change hands, so be it. I want to obey You, Lord. I wouldn’t want anything to stand between us. Lord, I love You. Always.

What are you talking about, David? Okay. Now for a little explanation. This week, we are learning about spiritual warfare. This morning, after a lesson on materialism, our teacher told us to pray for a few minutes and ask God to give us the name of someone He wanted us to bless. He also told us to ask God how to bless that person. Well, we did, and I felt that Lord was telling me what to do. I didn’t really like the idea, but I knew it was from Him. He was asking me to give away something very precious. Not only was it a very expensive object, but it was also something that represented a dream of mine, it was something that you might even say was a part of me. But the Lord was telling me to give it away. So, after much struggling with the idea, I obeyed. The teacher gave us a five minute break in case anyone felt that God was telling them to give something that was in our rooms. So after watching a few others leave the room and after struggling with God a little more, up the stairs I went to my room to get the camera. When the time came, I presented the camera and gear to Jona, my DTS mentor.

Well, the Lord confirmed to me that it was the right thing to do. After taking the heavy camera bag in his hands, Jona put his head down, touched his face to the bag with a lot of emotion in his face, and momentarily began to cry. He picked up his head again and began to tell how it had always been his dream to use photography in service to the Lord. He said that his wife and he were planning on going to the store this very day to buy a camera. Not one like mine, of course, because they didn’t have the money for it. But, he said, the fact that this camera came right before they were about to buy a camera could only be from God. As he was saying these things, I couldn’t look up. I wasn’t crying actual tears, but I had my face down on the table. I was realizing the camera was gone for good. Another of the students, Claudia, the expecting wife another classmate, got up, stood behind me, put her arms around me and began to pray over me with her gentle voice. I was grateful for the comfort she gave. Jona told me a few minutes later on the way to lunch that, even before I gave him the camera, he had felt that God wanted him to have a professional camera, although he didn’t have the money for one.

So I know now that this was from God, and I am happy for it. It’s interesting, perhaps, that He didn’t give me the sign I asked for before my obedience, but after it.

Praise and glory to Jesus