Suffering for the Lord?

I was recently given the opportunity to join a group of international students from the University of West Florida on a trip to Disney World in Orlando. I was completely open to going to Disney World all expenses paid for the weekend (suffering for the Lord) but I was a bit uncomfortable with the fact that they couldn’t speak my language very well and I didn’t speak their language at all. I gave in, and looked past my fears and American laziness to discover that God didn’t care who I was but about whom he was and what He can be if I make my selfish self available. I found out that I went on this trip to learn some new things that God wanted to show me about my walk with Him. God arranged an appointment for me to share my faith with one of my roommates, Pippen. I didn’t even have to try to start the conversation. The young guy, from Taiwan, picked up the Gideon Bible from the nightstand and asked me if I read the Bible. Completely surprised, I pulled out my Bible from my bag and thought; I can’t believe I almost forgot my Bible the night before. Since every Gideon Bible has John 3:16 near the contents section in many languages, I had him read the verse in Chinese and then I broke it down for him in English. He was very interested and asked many questions, but wasn’t to the point that he saw the big picture enough to want to accept Christ. One of the things he was interested in that evening was prayer and I did my best to explain to him what prayer was to me. The next day God decided to do something I didn’t expect. I call it a spiritual punch in the face, or a wake up call. Pippen asked me if I had prayed that morning yet. I thought, Prayed! What! It was 6:30 in the morning! I’m a college student and I never get up that early so why would I have prayed already! I heard the old Batman and Robin sound effects going off in my head. BAMM!! POWW!! My brain wasn’t even working yet, but I mustered up all the Christianized lines I could think of. I came out with, no I haven’t, but I will be throughout the day. Wow! Good save, I thought. But what did I accomplish by getting myself out of just saying, “No I forgot”. God was saying to me, Jon where were you this morning? Punch! Jab! Ouch God, that hurt! But that’s one of the reasons I went on this trip. I was allowed to go on a fun filled trip to Disney World, so that God could speak to me through a person that doesn’t know Him, and hardly speaks my language. I thank the Lord today for a spiritual punch in the face, and I hope there are many more to come.