40 Things Learned in 40 Days, part 3

30. Obedience trumps excellence.
For most of my life, I did not believe that these would ever conflict with each other. However, I now believe sometimes God calls you to do something and you don’t get to decide how you will make things perfect first…when he calls you, you just have to do it.

Most of my life I think excellence trumped obedience. Now, I value both obedience and the pursuit of excellence, but if I have to choose one over the other, I believe that obedience to God has to come first.

31. It’s hard to pray the prayer, “Lord, I will go wherever you want me to go” and genuinely mean it.
Many times I thought I believed I was willing, but then I started to think of some places that I hoped that the Lord never called me to settle in. One of those places is North Dakota. I don’t have one iota of desire to live in North Dakota. I know that the Lord created it, but I just struggle to see the beauty of ND. So…every time I started to think about this prayer, I was quick to admit, “Lord, help me to pray this prayer. Right now I cannot prayer this prayer because I am just not completely willing to go ANYWHERE.”

But about 35 days into the trips, something dawned on me…I would rather be where the Lord wants me than to be anywhere else. It would be better to be in His will in North Dakota than out of his will and living in Hawaii. So, finally…after much contemplation and much work being done on my heart, I prayed, “Lord, I will go WHEREVER you want me to go.”

32. Oklahoma seems to have the nicest rest stops.

33. If you are planning on having your car break down, let your car know that 5:45pm on Good Friday is not a convenient time.

34. A prophet who is not in the Word of God operates out of the flesh and out of a place of spiritual weariness.
A prophet in the word is a powerhouse of life.

35. Humble submission and intimacy with the Father needs to be at the heart of everything, or the other things we try to do become empty.

36. There is a second Netherlands…and it’s called Orange City, Iowa.
Seriously, it is a Dutch empire.

37. When you drive the Strip in Las Vegas, you might the impression that the Strip is only about a mile long.
If you walk it, you will definitely know that this is not true. (It’s probably a mile just between The Bellagio and the Venetian Hotel.)

38. The Grand Junction Regional Airport is much like the airport that is featured in the Seinfeld episode where the man who works for the airline is also the car rental representative…and everything else.
If you don’t like the attitude of the person working there, going to another counter doesn’t help…because they work there too.

39. You can be fed at both the International House of Pancakes and the International House of Prayer…but the feeding at the International House of Prayer seems to last longer.

40. “Living a radical life” seems to be a relative concept.
Some think that jumping into a van with little money, traveling across the country, and waiting on the Lord to provide is radical. However, our team doesn’t seem to think so. We just think it’s being obedient to what God called us to. We hope to someday be radical.