Hi there! Welcome to the IV at UNM blog! This is Lisa Holden
here. Since joining InterVarsity (IV) at UNM and becoming volunteer staff, I
have found IV to be a great place to dive into God’s word and make some serious
friends. I want to continue that through this blog by reflecting on what we are
learning in large group, small groups, and discipleship groups. It is also
meant to be a forum for further discussion of these topics.
That said, we started off the first IV large group with a
discussion on the first part of InterVarsity’s vision statement.
“To see students and
faculty transformed”
We heard the story of Jesus stopping by Matthew’s tax booth
and calling Matthew to follow Him. See Matthew 9:9-13. We also heard how God
stepped into Rachel’s life and called her from her defined zone into a path He
had in mind and had planned for her.
As Christians, we are to continually become more and more
like Christ. So as the talk unfolded, I began to wonder “Where does God want me
to be transformed next?” Where does God want you to be transformed? What area
of your life does God want to change and transform? It seems that Matthew had lost his identity. Matthew
had created a world of his own around himself. He was probably a bit confused
too. Back in that day, being a Jew and a Tax Collector didn’t mix. Tax
Collector was a term used to describe an evil person. Often times we describe
who we are by what others have said about us. Or, we label ourselves by what we
want to believe about ourselves. We can lose our identity in everything but
God. God has a purpose and plan for each one of us, one that will showcase
everything we have in our being and then some. Once Matthew met Jesus and
followed him, he didn’t change everything - he still through a party with his
tax collector friends after he met Jesus. You see, when we get saved, Jesus
doesn’t step in to our world and go with us wherever we want to go. We change to follow Him wherever he is going with
whatever He wants to do in our lives. “You are not own. You were bought with a
price.” (1 Corinthians 6:19&20) Hopefully, like Matthew’s friends, our
friends will come along with us.
Matthew left His vision for being a tax collector and being
wealthy behind. Will you lay down your vision for God’s vision for your life?
If you know God’s vision for your life, will you be faithful to it? To Him?
Will you let Him change you? “What do you know about all this?” you might be asking.
“I’ve barely met you and you’re writing a blog post about God wanting to change
me and challenging him to let me. Back off!” Ok. Haha. What do I know? I too had
created an identity that wasn’t what God wanted me to think. Growing up I
created an identity based on what other people said or did to me. I was a victim.
I was unworthy of anything good. I believed all sorts of things about myself
that were not true (and it was pretty obvious they were not true.) Like, when I
was in grad school, I thought I was stupid even though I majored in math and
was doing my graduate degree in engineering. By the world’s standards, even, I
was smart. I was applying my brain to the talent of math and science that God
had given me, but I still couldn’t see that I was smart because of what others
had said about me, and I definitely could not fathom this truth in my heart. I thought life was supposed to be tough and miserable, but that
was not what God had in mind for me at all. God showed me that these lies and
many others were definitely not His plan for me. Life is tough, and we will
always run into troubles from other people, but God never meant for you or me
to be miserable in our hearts and in our lives. Are you willing to believe
that? John 6:29 says “Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in
the one he has sent.” Will you believe God? Will you believe all that He has in
mind for you is true and right? I did. I have never been the same. And it
really doesn’t matter whether I know the exact purpose for every single last
thing or not. I know that where I am, the job I’m in, and the life I live is
where God wants me to be. I know that my heart in all these things is what God
cares about the most. Should I have quit everything and become a missionary
when I realized how awesome God was? No, I was meant to be engineer, working in
the work place and shining his light to those that may never step into a
church.
God has an awesome plan for your life. (Jeremiah 29:11) Will
you follow it? Follow it today. Will you lay down those voices and beliefs that
hinder you? Be transformed today.
