But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9-11 (NIV)
It is a wonderful and humbling thing to be called by the Lord to serve Him. For me, it has been a battle within myself. We all like to pretend we do everything right. That in some way all of our actions are justifiable or maybe we just pretend we have nothing to defend at all… ever. On other days I find myself asking: Who do I think I am, to represent the Lord, when I know that on the inside I am so unlovely? Who am I, to believe that I am a worthy candidate to show Christ’s love to others? Aren’t I at risk of giving the Lord a bad name? What if I mess up?
Let’s back up a little bit… for a while now, I've felt something pulling at me that made me feel like I should be doing something more. It wasn’t a clear feeling or one that I could put a name to, but rather a pull to say out loud to God that I would do whatever He wanted me to. Just show me! I would plead over and over again in prayer. Then all at once -He did. He provided an opportunity in Paris, France (with the Christian & Missionary Alliance through the Envision program) where they were looking for a person (or people) with the exact skill set I’ve been given! Well of course, while this was incredibly exciting that God would speak to me in such a real way… I felt so torn! I am comfortable here! I am loved here! I told my loving Savior. I wrestled with these decisions of what to do and realized as I took a long look in the mirror, how selfish I was being. I wanted to serve the Lord my way, not His!
Again I say… it is a wonderful and humbling thing to be called to serve the Lord. Here I was thinking that I was worthy enough to go and do big things for the Lord. That I was somehow important and special and that this is why God was prompting me to do more for Him with my life. In reality, I have realized that there is nothing in me that warrants admiration or that somehow allows me to deserve to be used by God. If I went to Paris… or anywhere in my own strength I, without a doubt, would mess things up! Although I’ve known this in my head for a long time(“All of us have become unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” Isaiah 64:6), once the Lord helped me take a long heart wrenching look at myself, I realized the truth in its entirety: without Him I am nothing. Without Him, I can do nothing of value.
Ephesians 1:7 “Christ sacrificed his life’s blood to set us free, which means that our sins are now forgiven. Christ did this because God was so kind to us. God has great wisdom and understanding” (CEV).
I don’t think that I have ever really grasped how much I need Him until I am once again faced with circumstances that show me just how unlovely I have the potential to be. I love when the above translation states that Christ gave us the ultimate sacrifice “because He is so kind.” Not because we deserve it or so we could earn it, but because He knew there was no way we could do it on our own. There is no way. Period.
I believe that God gave me these realizations not to be harmful, to be cruel or to cause damage to my self-esteem. Rather He sent me on a completely necessary journey that I have had to take (re-take and take again) to realize that if I go anywhere or do anything in my own strength it will not have nearly the effect that God can if I set myself aside and allow His merciful grace and His endless love to be in the center. I think I might be finally beginning to understand what 2 Corinthians 12:9-11 means when it says:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
So, it is with a humbled heart that I am going to France to serve the Lord for a year. I feel so overwhelmingly blessed to be used, unworthy tool that I am, to spread God’s love in a place where depression and despair are so prevalent. He is lovingly showing me that His strength and love can be so much better, and so much more effective than I could ever be in my own strength!
Will you join me in being part of this plan God is revealing? We are nothing without Him, but through Him we can be a vessel of His unending love and of His hope to the hurting! How exciting that the Lord would choose to allow us to be a witness to His marvelous mercies!
A big part of following this call from the Lord to serve Him in Paris is raising support in order to get there and live there. This seems like such an overwhelming undertaking! I believe, though, that God is able to do abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20-21)!
I have been asked to raise $1850.00 for each month I will be there. That means for my one year stay I will need to raise $22,200.00.
-If 62 people give $30 a month for one year, my goal will be met.
-If 37 people give $50 a month for one year, my goal will be met.
-If 19 people give $100 a month for one year, my goal will be met.
If you feel led to contribute towards my expenses, this may be done by phone, check or debit or credit and you will find the instructions both here and at the end of each blog post. If you give using any of these options you will receive a tax receipt from Envision to deduct from your taxes in the coming year.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your love and prayers!
- 2 Corinthians 12:9-11 (NIV)
It is a wonderful and humbling thing to be called by the Lord to serve Him. For me, it has been a battle within myself. We all like to pretend we do everything right. That in some way all of our actions are justifiable or maybe we just pretend we have nothing to defend at all… ever. On other days I find myself asking: Who do I think I am, to represent the Lord, when I know that on the inside I am so unlovely? Who am I, to believe that I am a worthy candidate to show Christ’s love to others? Aren’t I at risk of giving the Lord a bad name? What if I mess up?
Let’s back up a little bit… for a while now, I've felt something pulling at me that made me feel like I should be doing something more. It wasn’t a clear feeling or one that I could put a name to, but rather a pull to say out loud to God that I would do whatever He wanted me to. Just show me! I would plead over and over again in prayer. Then all at once -He did. He provided an opportunity in Paris, France (with the Christian & Missionary Alliance through the Envision program) where they were looking for a person (or people) with the exact skill set I’ve been given! Well of course, while this was incredibly exciting that God would speak to me in such a real way… I felt so torn! I am comfortable here! I am loved here! I told my loving Savior. I wrestled with these decisions of what to do and realized as I took a long look in the mirror, how selfish I was being. I wanted to serve the Lord my way, not His!
Again I say… it is a wonderful and humbling thing to be called to serve the Lord. Here I was thinking that I was worthy enough to go and do big things for the Lord. That I was somehow important and special and that this is why God was prompting me to do more for Him with my life. In reality, I have realized that there is nothing in me that warrants admiration or that somehow allows me to deserve to be used by God. If I went to Paris… or anywhere in my own strength I, without a doubt, would mess things up! Although I’ve known this in my head for a long time(“All of us have become unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” Isaiah 64:6), once the Lord helped me take a long heart wrenching look at myself, I realized the truth in its entirety: without Him I am nothing. Without Him, I can do nothing of value.
Ephesians 1:7 “Christ sacrificed his life’s blood to set us free, which means that our sins are now forgiven. Christ did this because God was so kind to us. God has great wisdom and understanding” (CEV).
I don’t think that I have ever really grasped how much I need Him until I am once again faced with circumstances that show me just how unlovely I have the potential to be. I love when the above translation states that Christ gave us the ultimate sacrifice “because He is so kind.” Not because we deserve it or so we could earn it, but because He knew there was no way we could do it on our own. There is no way. Period.
I believe that God gave me these realizations not to be harmful, to be cruel or to cause damage to my self-esteem. Rather He sent me on a completely necessary journey that I have had to take (re-take and take again) to realize that if I go anywhere or do anything in my own strength it will not have nearly the effect that God can if I set myself aside and allow His merciful grace and His endless love to be in the center. I think I might be finally beginning to understand what 2 Corinthians 12:9-11 means when it says:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
So, it is with a humbled heart that I am going to France to serve the Lord for a year. I feel so overwhelmingly blessed to be used, unworthy tool that I am, to spread God’s love in a place where depression and despair are so prevalent. He is lovingly showing me that His strength and love can be so much better, and so much more effective than I could ever be in my own strength!
Will you join me in being part of this plan God is revealing? We are nothing without Him, but through Him we can be a vessel of His unending love and of His hope to the hurting! How exciting that the Lord would choose to allow us to be a witness to His marvelous mercies!
A big part of following this call from the Lord to serve Him in Paris is raising support in order to get there and live there. This seems like such an overwhelming undertaking! I believe, though, that God is able to do abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20-21)!
I have been asked to raise $1850.00 for each month I will be there. That means for my one year stay I will need to raise $22,200.00.
-If 62 people give $30 a month for one year, my goal will be met.
-If 37 people give $50 a month for one year, my goal will be met.
-If 19 people give $100 a month for one year, my goal will be met.
If you feel led to contribute towards my expenses, this may be done by phone, check or debit or credit and you will find the instructions both here and at the end of each blog post. If you give using any of these options you will receive a tax receipt from Envision to deduct from your taxes in the coming year.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your love and prayers!
- If you wish to donate by CHECK:
Make Payable to “The C&MA”
Memo Line: “Envision – Amanda Burggraf”
Send to:
The Christian And Missionary Alliance/Envision Office Attn: Becky Gorton
P.O Box 35000
Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3500 - If you wish to donate online via DEBIT or Credit Card:
1. Go to the Give page of the C&MA Website: https://secure.cmalliance.org/give/
2. In the box under the “Give to International Workers and Special Projects” section, type: "ENV – Amanda Burggraf" and then click the red “Give Now” box that appears.
3. Type in the desired gift amount and fill out the form below.
4. You have the option to make this a recurring gift by clicking on the box underneath the total. - PHONE
If you would like to give over the phone, please have your credit card ready and call Envision’s toll-free number:
(866) 443-8262