One of my squadmates loves to ask questions where you compare either yourself or a situation to a pastry. The first time she posed this question was with our first team. She had us go around to each person and decide as a group which pastry they would be. One person was a scone, another was a muffin, etc.
During our last week in Jacó, two of our teams had dinner together. During dinner the pastry question made an appearance:
“If you could describe your time in Costa Rica as a pastry, what would it be and why?”
We went around our dinner table each sharing what we thought our pastry would be. An answer came to mind almost immediately. If my time in Costa Rica was a pastry, it would be a sugar free, gluten free pastry.
You may be thinking that doesn’t sound appetizing at all, and my first response would be to agree with you. When I lived in Florida, one of my roommates was gluten free. At one point I had decided to stop buying food with gluten in it to see what happened. I will admit, gluten free bread and cookies aren’t quite “it” for me, but after a few weeks of not eating gluten the gluten free food started tasting a bit better.
The same thing applied to my time in Costa Rica. I spent the first few weeks in Jacó with a bad attitude. I didn’t feel like my skills were being utilized. We painted light posts so often it felt monotonous. It was hot, and I didn’t feel connected to the ministry like I had with others. It was like biting into a gluten free, sugar free pastry. Not what you expected, not sweet, and probably not something you’d want to finish.
Then the Lord started pointing out my attitude. One day I was especially whiny with Him as I lay in my bed, sticky with sweat and frustrated. He quickly reminded me that He brought me to that ministry for a reason and what He wanted was for me to be obedient and serve faithfully, even if it wasn’t what I expected ministry to be like. He also brought an important question to me. Did I want to simply get through my time in Costa Rica, then regret that I had wasted that time wishing it was over? Or did I want to press in through the difficulty to learn what God had for me and to serve the ministry well?
That humbled me real quick.
After that, I found joy a lot quicker in my days. Even in the heat, painting again, I found joy in serving the Lord and in the interactions it brought with the people passing by on the sidewalk. That pesky bad attitude still tried to creep in, but God and my team were quick to help point it out so I could send it packing. The last few weeks in Costa Rica were sweeter, and the Lord showed me areas in my life I needed Him to work on. I grew a lot through my 60 days there.
So, just like our bodies adjust to the tastes of gluten free, sugar free foods, we can adjust spiritually to the environment we are in. After God gave me an attitude check, I learned to find the sweet moments in each day, in the little things. My spiritual taste buds changed so that I could enjoy ministry way more than when I first got there.
Sometimes life is hard. We have expectations of how things should go, how life should look, or what our ministry should look like. That’s not a bad thing, but many times God has something different for us. And we don’t always react well when our expectations aren’t met. It is crucial to remember that we are here to serve the Lord wherever he puts us. Stay faithful where he has you, be obedient to His leading, and find joy. Don’t allow a bad attitude to steal or destroy what God is doing in you and the world around you. Press in and seek Him always.
