What's In A Name

Names are important, without them the world would be an interesting place. I guess "Hey you!" would get old after a while, and trying to find "this place" would certainly be ambiguous. We use names every single day, and we are known by our names. Names give meaning and definition.

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place." -II Cor. 2:14

When my husband and I met in the summer of 2005, not long after we began memorizing this verse together. Since then, this has been the prayer for our life. Our desire is to be "the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place." I think we have taken the "every place" part seriously as we have almost been to every place in our young marriage. Well, not every place, but quite a few. Yet, wherever we go, when living in submission to Him, it is possible to be the sweet aroma of Christ. And you know the amazing thing? God uses imperfect sinners like you and I to "manifest...the knowledge of Him in every place." This amazes me. In fact, I am completely overwhelmed by the goodness of God as I write this.

After being in India for the first month, I nearly had a meltdown. This one was different than the previous thirty or so, because I was panicing about all the time I spent panicing in the first month that I was there. I just knew that I had blown it! I spent all my focus on surviving rather than serving. I thought for sure that instead of being a "sweet aroma," that I was being a stench. If you read the verses that follow in II Cor. 2, we are going to be a stench to those who are perishing. I'm not talking about that kind of stench. Instead, I thought I was being a stench to fellow believers, my husband, and worst of all, God. Well, I would love to say that this caused me to do things differently, and I suppose in some ways it did. However, when in a completely different culture, you cannot help but survive. As time went on, I became more comfortable living in a different place, and just when serving seemed to be comfortable and my primary focus, it was time to go home. It seemed to me that the trip had been a flop, and that any "sweet aroma" that was being left behind was no thanks to my side of the Pell team. Yet, during the last week God made it abundantly clear that He had worked through me, even when my focus was on me. The verse does not read: "But thanks be to ME who always leads ME in triumph in Christ, and manifests through ME the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place." No, it is not about me; It's not about me at all. Instead, it is all about GOD. "But thanks be to GOD, who always leads us in triumph in CHRIST and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of HIM in every place." I am so grateful that God uses imperfect people to be a "sweet aroma."

So that's why this blog is called Aroma Filled. We want to be filled with a "sweet aroma," and we know that because of the grace of God, we can be. This continues to be our prayer, and I hope it will be our prayer for the rest of our lives. I hope that it is your prayer too.