How can you expect to grow as an intern at Vision of Hope? Yesterday I was talking with one of our interns who has been serving here for 5 months now, and she was saying that she has been learning a lot through her internship. She said she came expecting to serve for a year, but has been shown areas of her heart where she needs to grow spiritually herself. I asked her to share with our blog readers some specific lessons the Lord has been teaching her up to this point in her internship.
“As an intern, I can feel a heavy burden to make sure I do everything right and not to mess up the job. I know the importance of doing things with excellence and in a timely manner. However, God has been opening up my heart to see my sin that so easily masks itself as just the desire to do well. Although this desire at its root as a good thing, left unchecked and not proactive in renewing my mind this easily becomes an idol. I have been at Vision of hope coming to 6 months now and the Lord is starting to convict my heart against my idols of approval and fear of man. I notice that on shift I have a constant desire to succeed and to do well. The Lord is showing me that this desire can be good, but only with the goal of pleasing Him and loving others. When I am focused on having staff, other interns and residents look at me favorably for the way I am serving, my heart is not for the things of the Lord. When I am fearing the opinion of man over seeking humble service to the Lord I am forgetting the Lord’s justifying work for me and his promises.
The Lord has been faithful in providing many encouragements to me as He is teaching me these things. I have been reminded that my goal is to love God and to love others in everything I do. The first part of 1 John 4:18 says “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…” How can I love the staff, interns and residents around me if I am fearing them? I really can’t. I am grateful for the Lord’s grace in showing me my sin, for providing the hope and ability to grow in faithfulness and for a loving and caring staff team around me to support, encourage and even rebuke my heart all to point me to Christ. In all of this, I am left with this simple truth: love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind and with all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself. These are the greatest commandments.”
God is faithful to work on continually sanctifying His servants as He uses them in ministry to others. If you are interested in how you can serve and grow in the Vision of Hope internship, you can read more about the internship here.
