Being Used.

Lately in my life, for a couple of reasons, I’ve been thinking about what it means to “be used.” I’ve been thinking about what it means to have a person use another person, and how selfish it is. It is SO selfish (lazy, inconsiderate, impudent, and uncaring, amongst a TON of other things) for the person doing the using to use.

Now think about the person being used. 
How do you think they feel? 

Annoyed.
Unappreciated.
Tired.
Undervalued.
Mistreated.
Unhappy.
Unloved.

With that being said, I’d like to update you on a couple things.

For those of you who don’t know, I have been in the process of fundraising to intern at a missions organization called One Missions Society. I have never met a group of people more passionate about obeying God, and I am so excited to be working with them for a few months! I will be working with a ministry of OMS called Hope61, which is a human trafficking prevention ministry. Some of you may ask “why that ‘cause’ ?” and the shortest answer I can give you is because God has broken my heart for the broken, and I feel like those enslaved in human and sex trafficking are the most broken group of people I know of. Of course that is just an opinion! Another reason is that God has confirmed the decision (and led me to the decision) to move out to Indiana to work with Hope61 over and over again!

                          
        The biggest confirmation is that I AM FULLY FUNDED FOR FOUR MONTHS!

This is sooooooooooooo crazy! I was not expecting to be funded this quickly, and I am so thankful for everyone who has prayed, encouraged, and supported me in any way throughout this process! I am so grateful and humbled by the way God has broken hearts and provided for me.  

(Because I am fully funded, any other donations that are made will go towards taking a short trip (one week) out of the country, which I am also very excited about! I’d love to be able to see Hope61 in action in another country. So I’d still like to raise some more money to completely fund a short term, exploratory trip, which is why I am doing a Chicken BBQ fundraiser on February 2nd at Sharptown United Methodist Church. You can pickup your lunch/dinner directly after 2nd service (around 1pm) until 3pm. If you’d like to buy a ticket please email me at ErikaLapp@gmail.com, or facebook message me. They are $10 each. Just a reminder, it is pickup only.)

Also, I am leaving February 15th. My parents and cousin (Sasha) are going with me for a day or two, and I will start on the 17th!

Thinking about how awesome it is that I am fully funded, I realized that God actually DOES want to use me.

Which sounds terrible. But it’s not. It’s totally different from a person using me.

I know for a fact that God loves me and loves all His children and wants them to love Him back. I think that makes all the difference. Plus, I DO love Him back. He is the only thing that could give me purpose and make me whole, because He made me. Not friends, or family, music or laughter could ever give me everlasting joy. All those things fade, but He remains. This world is full of pain and anger for a reason. Even if everyone knew God and loved Him, there would still be sin and accidents. Bad things happen so we turn to God. He LETS bad things happen.

Yup. I said it.
I love my God who lets bad things happen.

I would be so attached to this earth and the things in it if bad things didn’t happen...things that make me run to Him. People die, things break, relationships become broken. The only thing that will last forever is Him. Which is why we can never be disappointed in Him. He was, is, and always will be. He’s not going anywhere, EVER!

EVER!

So yes, I do want to be used. Not by you, or my friends, or family, but by God. My God who lets bad things happen. The maker of everything created. The God who made you, who knows everything about you, and still loves you and wants to use you for the only purpose that matters. The God who wants you. The God who sacrificed His son for you. Knowing all of this makes me understand that the least I can do is sacrifice my life for Him. That may sound...bad. But giving my life to the one who gave me His doesn’t sound bad at all. And working towards things that will actually last forever doesn’t sound too bad either.
 


“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” - Romans12:1


And I am still learning, everyday, how to do this.