Sitting here in the living room, watching & listening to the new Hillsong United DVD – “I Heart Revolution”... The whole morning I’ve had this feeling that You’re about to communicate something to me, and I wasn’t sure what. As I was busy getting ready to go to the store to get the DVD, You spoke into my heart so clearly that I should support the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup Final today. I was like, “sure Lord”...not sure why though... :) But I believe that You also explained why You wanted me to, even though neither the Bulls nor the Sharks are actually the team I root for... ;D
I was excited, coz I felt You remind me of the feeling that I got when I saw the photo-montage of Pretoria, on the YA camp, with the Chris Tomlin song “God of this city” as backdrop. I remember the one picture with the Telkom tower, and in the front there are these beautiful, Jacaranda trees in fullbloom, covered in their awesome purple blossoms. I felt an almost overwhelming emotion flood over me then, and I kinda got a bit ‘deurmekaar’ with all that I felt then. And even in trying to explain it to someone the next day, I kinda fell over my words and it didn’t quite come together. But now... Eish! :D
Anyway, I felt that the reason You want me to root for the Bulls today, is coz:
1) I am living in Pretoria, and
2) Your favour is upon this city more than ever before, and that You are raising up a people that's on fire for and with You. And the reason You got me so excited about that photo montage, is coz You're gonna make Pretoria known for it's people and their hearts for You, as much as it's known for it's Jacaranda trees.
And I truly believe that. And I felt that You were saying that, if I were to really give my all for Your cause, for this city, for the young people in this city, I need to REALLY embrace everything that this city is about. And a big part of what this city is about, is Blue Bull rugby... :D
I don’t know that I am giving justice at all to the feelings that You’ve placed in my heart this morning. I still feel that I kinda suck at verbalising properly what I’m feeling when it comes to You. But I’m trying...really... ;D
Anyway, urging me to root for the Bulls today (and making me excited about it too!:D) is just a part of why I’m writing this now. As I’m watching the “I Heart Revolution” DVD, You’re bringing me to a renewed revelation of Your heart for EVERY person on the face of this earth...REGARDLESS of cultural, geographical, racial or religious background. You love EVERYONE, and really CARE for EVERYONE. At one point during the DVD I felt You ask me how I feel about Pretoria, truly FEEL about the city. And as I started thinking about it, I couldn’t help but get emotional and teary, coz I realised with quite a bang that I TRULY LOVE this city!!! (ALMOST as much as I love You, Lord!) And I mean, I really LOVE it. I know that I asked You a while ago to please never take me out of Africa, and a little earlier this year I also asked You to please not take me out of HCC. But it’s as if those feelings are just re-confirmed so regularly, and with such vigour and determination, that I really really wanna say and ‘formally’ request that You not take me out of Pretoria again...or at least until Your will for me here is done. I feel that I would still like to go on holiday to other places of course – hehehe! :D But what I mean is, as far as being rooted goes, I really wanna be here. I don’t know that I can explain exactly why, coz I don’t quite know why I feel so strongly about it. Especially in the political and economical climate we find ourselves in at the moment, here in SA and the world in general. It would be easier than ever for me to go, “Let me see if I could perhaps get a job in Oz or USA or something”. But I honestly don’t want to. I feel that Your will for me is to be here. I really feel a very very strong urgency in that regard. And for me, another confirmation of that is the fact that my car is blue, the journal that Pam gave me just before LTS is blue, and also, the ribbon that I found in my church-bag last week Sunday (still don’t know where it came from...) is also blue! Hehehe :D
But seriously though, last week Sunday, when I felt You say, “Don’t go overseas, I need you here”... I think it’s becoming clearer to me and it’s also sinking deeper into my Spirit. I’m at total peace with it. Something that really spoke to me now on the DVD is a comment that one of the guys from Hillsong United makes about not having to go across the world to see people suffer. If I can quote him:
“It happens on our doorstep, it doesn’t just happen on the other side of the world. It happens if we wanna look for it, if we wanna see it, it’s there. We don’t have to go far.”
Right after that, another guy says this:
“I think the danger is in seeing the need on the other side of the planet, and to miss the need that’s right on front of us.”
That is truth in its essence. Obviously You do call people from one country to serve in another, or people from one country to give to causes that benefit those in other countries. But those of us who aren’t called to do that, and especially young people like we are in Catalyst, with a vision and mission and heart for our city...more than ever we need to really walk the talk. More than ever we need to be Jesus to the people around us – be it at church, work, in the supermarket, petrol station, at a robot, EVERYWHERE. We need to stop living in a ‘bubble’ of sorts, always wanting to do ‘something’, but never really ‘getting around to it’.
I WANT to serve You, I honestly WANT to do Your will RIGHT HERE in this beautiful city that I (and countless other young people) call home – Pretoria. I want my heart to be where Yours is, Lord. I wanna see what You see, feel what You feel for this city, and of course, what You feel for its people.
And yes, I think I could probably stomach rooting for the Bulls on a permanent basis...seeing that I don’t actually live in Cape Town... Hehehe! ;D
