Sacrifice

Camp is fun... That is why we do Worldview Academy as a camp rather than a school or some other form. Camps are fun and they are where you can take students away from the common distractions of our culture and focus on God for the week. But camp is supposed to be fun. As an academic camp students often here "academic" and think "not fun". That is understandable but we have fun at Worldview Academy. Sometimes we have to work hard to inject fun into camp but it is fun. We play frisbee, we have color team competitions, we do a relay at the end of the week as the pinnacle of that color team competition, and you can even find us doing skits and laughing in our lecture hall (gasp).

Is camp always fun... well no it is not. There are many parts of my job that are not fun. Things can be messy and place me in a corner that is difficult to please all parties. We try to make it fun but it is not always fun. It would be easy to quit when it is no longer fun, to cave in and go into the fetal position until the storm has passed. Now don't get me wrong, we are called to have joy in all circumstances, even if it is not fun. I can honestly say I have had much joy this summer even when times can be the most trying. As I was reading in Psalms the other day I was encouraged and challenged by a verse in Psalm 54. It says, starting in verse 4, "Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life. He will return the evil to my enemies; in your faithfulness put an end to them. With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. For He has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies."

Camp is a sacrifice that God has called us to make. Sure camp is fun and easy sometimes and it is easy to forget, but it is a sacrifice. It doesn't take long to stop and think about all of the things that have been made more difficult because of Worldview Academy. Seriously, we were engaged for a year and a half because of Worldview Academy. I left our first born son Drew after only two weeks for Worldview Academy. But the thing of it is that God has called us to make it. It is called a sacrifice for a reason, because it is not easy. As a bond-servant like Paul (and others) call us to be my duty is to sacrifice. Even when it is not easy, even when it is not fun, I have been called to sacrifice. My flesh wants to quit when it gets hard, my flesh wants it to be easy, but the most significant lessons I have learned in my life have come through pain and sacrifice as through that I am drawn closer to my savior.

This was a great reminder for me that even in times when it is apparent that it is a sacrifice, will I give thanks to God for this trying time. For this time of stretching. Sacrifice is not easy. It is not fun. We try so hard to avoid it. But the bottom line is we have all been called to sacrifice. I can choose to sacrifice kicking and screaming or I can choose to sacrifice with joy as I lay my life at the feet of my God and Savior.

Mike