A re-post on trusting G_d when tired and disoriented… For most of us, 2020 has been like moving to a completely new culture! I need to learn this lesson over and over.
In time of trouble go not out of yourself to seek for aid; for the whole benefit of trial consists in silence, patience, rest, and resignation. In this condition divine strength is found for the hard warfare because God himself fights for the soul.
~Miguel de Molinos (1628-1696)
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
~ From Isaiah 40
Oh beloved, it is true.
What a privilege it was to share a cup of coffee and a croissant with my beloved late on a Saturday morning at a Starbucks here in town. This restaurant was actually the venue for our first Skype conversation only a couple and a half months ago. This time, i had the privilege of sitting on the same couch with her, as opposed to being 15,000 kilometres away. It was a time to simply share and laugh and cherish the hypersonic speed at which this torrential romance cum marriage has come about.
And just a few hours later, this writer was standing in the Carrefour (think Walmart super-center with cheaper goods) yesterday, here in the traffic-choked, currency-inflated, Rhamadhan-reeling, humidity-soaked Puri Indah zone of the western part of the Jakarta Capital Region of Java in Indonesia.
Having misplaced my beloved wife, sweating from a fever, fatigued, nauseated, and simply tired of not being able to understand most of what i was hearing and reading… A little tiny bit of me started to panic and lash out at the avalanche of changes.
It was the moment that absolutely will happen with any cross-cultural worker, educator or missionary.
Just for a minute… It is not fun any more. Not one little bit. This writer has been through this another time on another continent. And that episode was not so easily traversed. For in that place some 20 years ago, i had not learned the bedrock truth that HE was still with me. And Jesus trumps culture shock and tropical viruses :).
In the past, I thought I just had to lay there and breathe. But thankfully now, i realize that He is my breath – and that makes all the difference.
Sometimes, the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap.
~Joyce Meyer
So, i went home, finished some chores, got in the Word, prayed with my wife, and slept for a bunch of hours… Got up, ate, prayed, got in His Word, and went back to sleep… Then i did the same thing again, resting my physical and mental frame as He led me by His Spirit. He refilled my tanks as i slept and dreamed and sweat and tossed and turned. Jesus knows exactly how to navigate any issue that comes our way. He is an absolute expert at everything! And so, thankfully, there is no need for protracted panic over all the things that can go wrong overseas.
Nah, He’s got it.
This writer went to Bible college a very long time ago. And it was very much worth the trip. But, i am convinced that most of my Bible education can be condensed down into the following wisdom:
G_d is really big
He is really strong
He is REALLY Loving
He is really able to handle everything
He cares about my problems more than i do.
And in knowing these things to be true, we come to Love Him with the whole spectrum of our being. We Love Him in spirit for we are one in Him. We Love Him in soul for we are mated therein. And we Love Him in body as we pour out the sacrifices of praise He provides for us to give. We Love Him this way because He first Loved us this way… But we also Love Him this way simply because He is so lovable. The Grace He gives to take us through any situation is so real.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
~ Jesus, King of the Universe, in Matthew 11
So, beloved, are you facing a tough time? Can one veteran promise you something? He is with you. He cares, and He Loves you oh so very much! As you become saturated in your situation, know – really KNOW – that as wet as you feel, your circumstances simply cannot wash away His presence in your life.
Take those road hazards—the potholes, ruts, detours, and all the rest—as evidence that you’re on the right route. It’s when you find yourself on that big, broad, easy road that you ought to worry.
~Joni Eareckson Tada
