Not All Rainbows and Butterflies

There are many who would have you believe that if you become a Christian everything in your life will be easy. There are preachers who preach that your life will be free from suffering, all things will go your way and you will be materially prosperous once you give all control over to Christ. That is a lie.

Nowhere in Scripture does Christ say, “Follow me and your life will be all rainbows and butterflies.” What does He say? “If anyone would come after me let him take up his cross and deny himself and follow me.” Take up his cross? Deny himself? That doesn’t sound like rainbows and butterflies and you would be right. It’s not. The Christian life is the hardest there is to live. We should not only expect suffering but we are promised suffering. We are fish swimming up stream constantly. There is no time to relax, no point at which we can stop and catch our breath. We must be always on our guard because our flesh is always ready to take advantage of our weakness and the devil is standing in the shadows preparing snares for our feet. 

My brothers and sisters, if life were supposed to be easy God would have laid everything we could ever need or desire right at our feet. But if this were the case, there would be no need to trust Him, and no need to rely on His faithfulness. So we have trials. Sometimes God might wait until the last minute to provide a need for you just to see if you’ll still trust Him when your need is most dire. He tests us. And this is good! Tests show us where we are at in our walk with God. Just like in school, they help us track the progress we are making in a particular area of our life. Sometimes, we may fail but the Lord remains faithful even then. So dear reader, I exhort you to put your trust in our Lord and His providence and to have faith that He will always be faithful to us, His children. Only by casting our cares on Him and trusting in Him for our every need will we have the true rest we are all longing for. 

A Means to An End

Quite often I find myself daydreaming of the day that I will walk down the aisle in a stunning white dress toward the man that I will spend the rest of my life with. Ah, yes, my wedding day. I think of it often, yet the face I will see looking down the aisle is still quite the mystery.

Some days I'm able to enjoy the mystery and savor the excitement of one day finding out who Mr. Right is but most days I tell God that I'm tired of waiting and think that I'm quite ready to bring an end to this dreary season of singleness.

Despite my constant petitions, encouraging nudges and attempts to make it so, the Lord has so far denied my request. This is a hard pill to swallow at times. I've officially entered the season where all my friends are getting married so I feel like it should be happening for me too, but it's not.

So why am I dissatisfied in the lot the Lord has given me? Singleness, though uncomfortable at times, really isn't that bad. You can do whatever you want to do, go wherever you to want to go, and maintain your own time and resources at your own discretion (bearing in mind the will of the Lord). But even so, in singleness we have A LOT of freedom. Why give that up?

I think I often fall into the trap of thinking that my life doesn't really begin until I have a man to share it with. So until he comes I'm just waiting around trying to look busy. But this ought not be the case. Marriage is not the end or goal of my life. Neither is singleness. God gives both and takes away both but the season is not an end in and of itself. Rather, each season is a means to God's end for our lives which is our sanctification (1 Thess. 4:3).

God gives us a season of singleness and a season of marriage to sanctify us. We can't worry that not being married means that we're not fulfilling our purpose. Our purpose is not to be married. Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him and we can do that whether or not we have a ring around our finger.

The Lord is sovereign over where you are right now even if you don't want to be there. Live out your singleness with earnestness. Use your talents to build up the kingdom of God, travel to another country, go on a mission trip. The possibilities are endless and being single means the barriers are low.

Each season in your life contributes to your sanctification. Take advantage of each one and don’t waste it. Trust God every day and hope in Him.  

The LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.  -Psalm 84:11

Freedom in God's Will

  Are you fretting over which school to go to, which job to take, who to marry or what house to buy? Do you worry that if you choose one path over another that you’ll miss out on what God had planned for you if you had chosen differently? Are you waiting for signs to appear and peace to befall you before you make a decision? 

I’ve been there and I know that it is a difficult place to be. For the Christian, decision making can often be confining and make you feel like you’re walking on a tight rope because we are doing our best to follow God’s will for our lives. However, we don’t and really can't know what God’s will is for our lives when it comes to what school to go to, what career to choose, or who to marry. The answers to those questions aren't in the Bible. This is why we (or at least I) often feel constrained when faced with a choice and always fearful of making the wrong decision.

I struggled for days and possibly weeks to decide whether I would go to Stetson University or Florida State University. I prayed. I weighed the pros and cons of each. And then I prayed some more. One day I would lean toward Stetson, the next I would want to go to FSU. I continued praying, wondering if God was ever going to “tell” me what school to go to. Still, after more praying and weighing of both options, I didn’t feel “God leading” me one way or the other. One day my dad told me that I had until the end of the day to make a decision. Yikes! The prospect of making such a decision in a matter of hours was not welcomed but by the end of the day I had decided to go to FSU. The decision had been made and there was no more going back.

Recently, I read Kevin DeYoung’s book, Just Do Something. It deals mainly with how to discern God’s will and make wise choices without waiting for a sign from above. Reading this book has completely liberated me from this sort of experience in decision making.

In his book, DeYoung explains that we are not meant to know what God’s hidden will for our lives is. All we can know for certain regarding His will is what He has laid out in Scripture. God does not expect us to know where He is taking us before we get there. He doesn’t expect us to know that we need to go to this school or buy this house in order to accomplish His will for our lives. More than that, He doesn’t plan to tell us in advance, before we make life-changing decisions.

So what can we do if God isn’t going to put up big red blinking arrows in the sky for us to happily follow along our way? We must search the Scriptures. There we will find the principles needed to make every decision we will ever be faced with. We must use these principles, check our motives, and finally ask God to grant us wisdom. And then we make the decision. We don’t wait for signs. We could end up waiting a long time and never do anything! What’s more, if we are looking for a sign are we really trusting God? If God “tells” us, “Yes, you must go to school here or buy that house” are we taking risks for Christ? Does not God desire us to put our trust in Him unreservedly?

So dig out the principles of decision making found in God’s word that He has given to us. Pray for wisdom and just make a decision. God’s will is not a tight rope as we often imagine it to be. But know that there is freedom in Christ! Freedom to obey His word, freedom to trust Him and freedom to make decisions without lying fleece on the ground. So stop living in fear that you are “missing out” on God’s will for your life if you make a decision without signs or visions or that supernatural peace that we often talk about. The only way to miss out on God’s will for your life is to not do anything at all!

Jet Lag in Avocado Falls

Avocado Tree 

When I first arrived at the Rafiki Village I was shown to the house where I would be staying. The actual guest house is closer to the entrance of the village but the ROS (Rafiki Overseas Staff) are playing around with accommodations for visitors so I am actually staying in one of the houses ROS would normally live in long-term. I must say the place is pretty classy. There's a kitchen, a living and dining room, two bedrooms and a bathroom. The living room is nicely furnished and the dining room has a large dining table in it. The bedrooms are fully equipped with plenty of closet room and mosquito nets over the bed.

I had maybe two hours before my orientation to shower and take a little nap. By this time I was really starting to feel jet lagged so I allowed myself 45 minutes or so to sleep. Then on my way to orientation I was greeted by Jack, the Village's new canine resident. Still a puppy, this Jack Russel terrier was being chased by about 17 of the resident boys living at the Rafiki village. Each boy came up to me, shook my hand and introduced themselves to me. One of them even called me 'Auntie'! It was the sweetest thing!

At orientation I learned that there are a lot of interesting noises that can be heard throughout the day at Rafiki, particularly in the houses. For instance, avocados will quite regularly fall from the tree onto the roof of the house I'm staying in and make sometimes very loud noises. The second morning I was here I woke up only a few minutes before I heard this huge boom! Though it was slightly off-putting I simply assumed it was another avocado falling from the tree. Another noise one might here is the music and emceeing coming from some sort of recreation center located right down the street where famous people often go to perform. Though the music often goes long into the night it is easy enough to tune out and by God's grace hasn't kept me from sleeping thus far. I have also heard the calls of many different kinds of birds and have probably heard monkeys too, though I haven't actually seen any in or around the village. One of the house maamas tells me that there are many but I learned today that one of the responsibilities of the guard is to keep the monkeys away so he must be really good at his job! 

I slept fine the first two nights I was here but on the third night I found myself wide awake at 12 midnight! I suppose the difference amounts to being tired from the long journey and then having recovered from that my body still had to adjust to the 7 hour time difference. Hopefully my body has got it figured out now and willingly goes to sleep tonight. 

And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so...And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens. So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves...and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 

Genesis 1: 11; 21

Mzungu! Mzungu!

It is incredible how different life is here. There is so much poverty. Little kids will come up to your car windows with one hand out and the other pointing to their stomach, or they will ask for water if they see it in your car. It is the most heart-wrenching circumstance when you have to say no to giving them money or see how thankful they are for just a small glass of clean fresh water to drink. It makes you realize just how much you have taken for granted and how little you have truly been thankful for. For me, it is a sobering reminder to be thankful for even the smallest provisions that the Lord has given me. He has given me so much and yet I thank Him for so little. May my heart be moved to thankfulness more often!

On our way back to the village we made several stops. We stopped at this one woman's house to pick up goods she had handmade by order of Rafiki. Rafiki has a widows' program where they teach widows certain craft skills and then commission the making of those crafts and market them in the United States. It was really neat to witness first hand God's provision for this widow and her family. Her son, Charles, was such a gentleman too! He brought out our shoes to us as we were preparing to leave. What a sweetheart! 

Another stop we made was at a local church. The church was down the street from a market area and surrounded by open land and huts. Many children roamed the around the area near to the church and when they saw us approaching in the car they would yell 'mzungu, mzungu!' which means, 'white.' We got out of the car to make a delivery to someone at the church and as we got out a few of the children approached us. I greeted them and they were very polite in return. As we were walking toward the church, one child reached his hand in mine and held it until we reached our destination. My heart melted! 

Never in my life have I been confronted with such severe circumstances and yet everyone you meet is simply overflowing with joy. The child holding my hand on the way to church, the children residents at the Rafiki village. Each one of them, despite the disparity of their circumstances, have this incredible joy shining on their faces, a joy that cannot be heard through speech but must be seen with the eyes. Their joy is so great that it overflows onto those around them. 

The joy that comes from these young ones is infectious. I cannot help but be joyful in their presence and moved to thankfulness and peace of mind and heart when they are near. I am looking forward to the two weeks or so I have remaining to spend with them. 

Blessed are those whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs. 

Psalm 84:5-6a

Traveling Mercies

I made it! I have traveled half way across the world to the Wakiso district of Uganda in Africa. Wow! I can still hardly believe that I'm here! It took 2 days of traveling to get here. One 3 hour flight, one 6 1/2 hour flight and one 10 hour flight. Let me tell you, that is a lot of time to spend on a plane. The time changes wreak havoc on your brain's internal clock. When I arrived in Amsterdam I met up with a missions team and we went to have breakfast in the airport and I was ready for dinner! Finally, we boarded the plane from Amsterdam to Entebbe, Uganda only before we took off an announcement was made (in both Dutch and English) that there had been a problem in the security process and that they needed to empty the plane completely and then board again. Ayayaya! It was my first delay the whole trip so I suppose I cannot complain too much. Finally, we arrived in Entebbe where before landing I experienced my first aborted landing attempt. The plane had been descending getting ready to land when the attempt had to be abandoned and we started going up again! Eventually we were able to land and we had finally arrived in Uganda.

It took very little time to collect our baggage and after we made our way to the parking lot where the team I was with had two people waiting for our arrival. They loaded up all of luggage (and together it was quite a lot!) on top of a van and we all scrunched together to fit 12 people in an 8 person vehicle. Ha! Our hosts drove us to a facility somewhere between Entebbe and the country's capital, Kampala. It was very late when we arrived probably sometime after midnight. The kind people at the facility had dinner ready for us and so once we settled in we ate dinner at about 1:00 in the morning.

The next day, a wonderful lady from the Rafiki Village in Uganda, picked me up from the facility that I had stayed the night at. From there we went to the supermarket, exchanged my U.S. dollars for Ugandan shillings, bought groceries and had lunch at a restaurant called Good African Coffee. The food was delicious! We drove around the campus of African Bible College and then headed back to the village.

The Lord has surely showered his mercies over me in allowing me to arrive safely and without much delay to this new place. I am very grateful for His hand of provision that has allowed me to go on this trip of a lifetime. The God I serve is a mighty God! May He receive all the glory!

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness! 

Lamentations 3:22-23

Safe in His Hands

It's weird--growing up. It's an awkward place to be. One day you're respectfully addressing your elders as Mr. or Mrs. So and So and the next they are telling you to call them by their first names. Not only that, they actually start talking to you like you're an adult, telling you about their job opportunities or asking your thoughts on theology and church liturgy, not a conversation frequently encountered when you're a kid.

And so you begin the transition. The next time you see Mr. So and So you call him that out of habit only to have him remind you that it's Bob or Jim. It's not that you don't understand, it's that it's so unfamiliar, so awkward and wrong-feeling that you can't bring yourself to actually call him by his first name. You cling to your old ways, not wanting to leave them because then that means you've actually grown up and who wants to do that? Especially in today's economy.

Suddenly, the political debates are now important to keep up with because you're now going to be immediately affected by the way the government handles things. You have to find a job if you plan on moving out of the house any time soon. The newness of it all is simply terrifying and the enormity of the responsibility you're taking on weighs you down as if an invisible force field is keeping you from standing up completely straight. And yet, there's no turning back. You are where you are and though you may want to go back to your worry-free childhood, you know that there's only one way to go and that's forward.

So how does one make this transition? Maybe it's out there but I haven't seen a "Growing Up for Dummies" manual in the bookstores. And when do you stop transitioning and arrive?

Perhaps I have built myself up for a grand, insightful explanation but I'm going to have to disappoint you, my kind reader, because I really have no idea. All I know is that God is sovereign and that I should trust Him, follow His principles, and pray for wisdom. I am safe in His hands and He will not forsake me.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." -Joshua 1:9