prepared

We are starting out with a bit of an overview of Galatians in this study. I remember studying Galatians from the perspective of false teaching, but I sense that this is going to give me yet another perspective. Even further out, we started with a visit by Paul & Barnabus to Pisidian Antioch on the day of the sabbath, visiting a synagogue. The rulers read from the Law & the Prophets and sent word to Paul & Barnabus to share a word of encouragement.

Immediately, I am reminded of so many instances where I would be visiting a church in the mountains or jungles of Peru and simply because I was there, I would be asked to share. Oh, to be able to lay out a sermon like this at a moment's notice. To be able to articulate God's intimate involvement in history. Paul & Barnabus were ready to share at any moment. There was no self-doubt; no false humility; no worry of offense. Simply and concisely, they share saying "Listen to me!" and continue with an incredible sermon citing the history of God's hand in the people of Israel up to the opportunity to receive forgiveness because of Christ's sacrifice.

abandoned

I am filling out a questionnaire for a workshop I will attend in a couple of weeks. The question at hand has to do with my present relationship with God. In answering, something was revealed to me.

I feel abandoned.

Abandoned. Forsaken. Neglected. To turn away from entirely. Deserted.

It feels like more than just loneliness. It is deeper. Heavier.

Discarded. Rejected.

Yes, I know God says, never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. But I still feel that way. From God, from family, from friends. In general. In life.

feeling protected

Today, my heart is longing to feel safe and protected. I think about the many times throughout my life which I have simply not felt that way. It seems like I typically felt unsafe and unprotected by others. Those others being people who should have sought to protect me. My childhood was riddled with moments of feeling unsafe and my adulthood is now stained with the same feelings.

So, I have learned through the majority of my experiences that I must take care of myself. I must learn to protect myself. I must make sure I am safe. I can count on no one else to do that for me.

So how do I reconcile that with the reality that God wants to protect me, wants to keep me safe, wants to be my shelter, wants to hide me under His wings. How do I trust that someone else will be there to protect and shelter me? How do I believe that I don't always have to rely on myself? This is hard for me to understand and I am struggling today to not be envious of so many people around me who do in fact have those protectors in life; people who serve to keep them safe.

Why did God allow me so many experiences for me to learn the very opposite of what he truly wants for me to know? This is confusing and so very hard to unlearn.

legalism vs discipline

Legalism, is essentially placing too much emphasis on the law, codes of conduct, rules & regulations. Often this leads to pride, superficiality, absence of mercy, and a lack of emphasis on God's grace. The letter of the law is highly esteemed instead of the spirit of the law. Legalism claims that obedience to the law is the way to salvation instead of believing that God's grace and the shedding of Christ's blood redeems us.

We should never seek to read the Bible or pray to God with the motivation that we will be more spiritual than the next person. Too often, we compare ourselves with one another and convince ourselves that certain activities will raise us to a higher level of spirituality. We must banish those thoughts from our mind and cling to the desire to know and love God above all else.

On the other hand, there are times in our spiritual walk that we find ourselves without that desire. We find ourselves complacent and lacking in the want to. There are times in which we must choose to be disciplined. We must choose to seek God even though the feelings of "want-to" may not exist. However the motivation is similar, the desire to know God instead of the desire to be seen as better than others.

A spiritual discipline is considered a practice which helps to cultivate spirituality. There are many spiritual disciplines: fasting, silence, solitude, prayer, meditation, and the list goes on.

I guess it all comes back to the position of the heart and the motivation behind the action. We can go back to the idea of the Do To Be Tree and understand that the motivation was to "be" something as a result of the action a person took. God wants us to take action because we already are; we are His children and that alone should motivate us to desire or discipline. But the fact that we are God's children should never lead us to legalism.

Needs

We recently traveled to a small town on the side of the road. We went to deliver some Christmas goods like food and presents. I returned bewildered and still I wonder why we went.

The very first person to greet us began to explain how the mine waste sat on the other side of the road and when the wind kicked up, all of the pollution stirred around in the air. Could I do something about it she asked.

I went along meeting other people, the leaders from nearby towns. One of the first to introduce herself came armed with two letters, both asking for us to take on projects of building and repairing things.

They gave us a tour of the town and as we looked at the problems left by the mine, someone asked me what we were going to do about it. At that point I began to explain that I know nothing about mining, nothing about the leftover chemicals, that I could see the problem and had no plan to take care of it.

I was shown around the medical post. "We need a scale, we need oxygen tanks, we need bedsheets..." The list went on and on. They want a full running medical post when the nearest hospital is about 5 minutes away. Walking.

We went into the school's classrooms and they showed me the kids work and pointed out that the ceilings were deteriorating. I saw two spots where things had comes loose. As we were about to leave the school grounds, they decided that every town leader would send a list of the town's needs so they could compile it and submit it to us.

Truthfully, I wanted out. Out of these conversations, out of town! To wrap things up, they asked that I would say a few words. God had been speaking to me as I walked through the town. They really had many things, most apparent was the fact that the building were all made of cement. One town away was complete adobe. The cement buildings were from the mining days and remain to this day. So many towns we visit have no cement buildings but are homes with dirt floors, straw walls and roofs that are literally falling apart. I challenged them to see what they had instead of what they didn't have. Every single town could draft a list of the town needs. Even I have a list of things I need to do, repair or get for my home. But that does not mean that every visitor that walks through my door is shown the list and then asked, "Now what are you going to do about it?"

My heart hurt that day. Hurt for the fact that they are lost. Hurt for the fact that they look to people instead of to God. Hurt for the fact that a single mom wanted me to take her daughter to give her a better life. Hurt for the fact that they saw only their own needs and not those of people around them.

Destructive Storms

At 4:30 pm on Friday, August 31, Aucayacu experienced strong hurricane winds accompanied by torrential rains. The storm left 105 homes without any roofs at all and many others were partially removed; many of these in the neighborhood where we served (Primero de Mayo) which is close to the Huallaga River. A report from a local paper also spoke of three schools that were also damaged; leaving children hurt by the flying metal pieces. You may recall from our conversations with the Mayor and residents that they believed a good education for their children would be key to lifting the community from their impoverished past.

Don William shared that out of all of the houses on their block; only 2 or 3 withstood the storm without any damage! We have received specific reports that the house (on the corner) we were looking at rebuilding has begun to come down. The Rengifo family has moved their things over to Jacky’s house for the time being because the roof and posts are down.

Their granddaughter LuzMari (the really cheerful servant) is said to have her familys’ roof down too. Doña Rosa has lost the roof on her kitchen and some of the bedrooms. In addition, Don Jose (who left early morning prior to our departure to gather and gift the fruit from his land to us) has no roof; Clara, who served us a refreshing yucca drink on the last day, has lost most of her roof; Marta, another neighbor down the street, has suffered the same. Romolo, Don William’s oldest son, had a coconut tree fall on their roof, causing severe damage; thankfully his wife and two small children got out in time!

Edgar, who received Christ during the Creekside team visit, lives with his in-laws; the roof of their wooden home was badly damaged. The recently added area, the “invasion” had 13 small particle board houses which have all suffered damage of some sort.

Shelter is the most basic of needs and the community we impacted are feeling that need now more than ever. However, even through this, God is working on the individuals in the Barrio from a spiritual perspective. Doña Rosa was understandably emotional, conveyed that she felt "terribly desperate" and was reminded that storms will come, but what is important is having peace in her heart.

Norith, Don William’s daughter, expressed that she realized through the storm that her faith was very small. She would like to talk some more about her faith and God. What awesome opportunities…God, through the mission team from Creekside Church, helped plant those seeds.

At this point, we are working on the best ways to deliver the needed assistance of (mainly) roofing supplies. At this point we are looking at hiring an empty banana truck, making the trip back to Aucayacu. We would load this truck with roofing supplies and materials and deliver it directly to those we are ministering to in the "barrio" of Primero de Mayo.

The goal in mind is that we go to be an example to them and then send them out into the city to help others around them. We go to meet a need, bless them and take advantage of the opportunity God is giving us to speak into their lives once again about having peace in their hearts even in the midst of a storm. People are hungry for the truth and I am SO EXCITED that we are part of this!

We have an opportunity to provide some needed assistance to the Primero de Mayo barrio we ministered to and participate in some long term spiritual growth opportunities. What a blessing it would be to know that we equipped one barrio, which responded to God's grace and blazed through the rest of Aucayacu and then into other surrounding towns!!

Lessons In Waiting

Although I was not actually in Lima to feel the earthquake that shook Peru last week, I did feel some of its effects as we traveled from the jungle back to Lima. Instead of a simple 12 hour bus ride, at about 4am, our bus was detained. I stuck my head out the window into the bitter cold and the dark of the madrugada. Once I saw a man who worked for the bus line I asked why we (along with all the rest) were stopped. "No hay pase!" He said the earthquake had caused some rocks to fall which were being cleaned up and implied we would be on our way soon. When the bus began to move within just a few minutes I was relieved...until we stopped again in just a few miles.

The next SEVENTEEN hours were more of the same: stopping, going for a few meters, stopping again. We got off the bus to look around and stretch our legs and ate granola bars to our hearts content. Through those hours, we passed by many small rock slides and after 17 hours got to the main landslide which was said to have been a mountain which had slipped from its heights. They had tried to clean it for a good portion of the day but reoccurring aftershocks were said to cause a continual flow of falling rocks. By the time we drove through it, they had partially cleaned one lane for the miles and miles and miles of traffic to flow through.

As someone who has lived in Peru a number of years now, I have learned not to become to ruffled by circumstances that are beyond my control. Me being upset would not make the workers clean faster, the bus driver drive more aggressively or food appear out of the sky. I watched the US team that was with us and they were troopers right along with us. By the end of this adventure, I realized that they now can comprehend the way of life here a bit better. I told them that they can pray for us in a new way now that they have experienced not only the joys of ministry but also the difficulties.

When you pray for the missionaries you support, don't just pray for their fruitful ministry and happy heart...pray for them as they face a way of life that is very different than yours. This very way of life can cause stress and discomfort if one does not adapt. Pray for missionaries to adapt to their country of ministry so that they might be even more effective.

We are not in control. God is.

Learn to Lose?

"In America, we teach people how to acquire things, but we don't teach how to lose them,"

Bishop F. Josephus Johnson II said. Johnson is the senior pastor of The House of the Lord in Akron Ohio. This church is home to Patty Porter, mother of Jesse Marie Davis, the pregnant 26-year-old Lake Township, Ohio, woman whose body was found June 23, 10 days after she disappeared.

I was struck by this comment. At times I experience the clash between wanting to acquire and seeing the benefit in losing things. Even in the last few days I have seen that play out. I returned from the jungle with over 30 pounds of fruit including plantains, carambola, jungle mandarins and oranges. When I asked my friends what they did with their large containers of fruit, one admitted that while her family was consuming it, her mom was also giving it away bit by bit to visitors. Yesterday, someone visited and brought even more fruit! I have had the opportunity to give some away to people that visit my house and for whatever reason I could not.

I realize that fruit has no comparison with a life and that my giving away would be completely voluntary while so many people lose things involuntarily. But I am struck by the reality that Americans in general live to acquire more and must learn how to lose in order to be healthy, sane humans.

I was drawn back to the article I found on cnn.com and read it out loud to those at my house (translated into Spanish of course!).

The reality, Johnson said, is that life amounts to an unending series of losses. "From the moment that we come out of our mother's womb, there's a loss. There's a loss of connection. ... And then all along, we lose as we grow up. We lose friends, we change grades, we lose toys, we lose pets. ... As you get into later life, we lose hair, we lose strength. ... So life can be viewed as a series of losses, but yet America is much more concerned about what we acquire than it is about what we lose."

As a result, well-meaning people often make unhelpful remarks to grieving people.

"One of the things we say a lot is, 'Time will heal all wounds.' And time really does not heal anything," Johnson said. "We give the example in Grief Recovery that if we believe time heals things, then when you get a flat tire, just go out and get a chair and sit by it and see whether the flat fixes itself. It's not going to do that. You have to make informed decisions and choices in order to be able to heal certain things."

Part of the problem, he said, is that Americans tend to try to work through things intellectually rather than emotionally.

"When you have an event that brings emotional loss, you cannot think your way through that, you have to feel your way through it. It's like going into a dark room: You can't think your way through that room, you have to put your hands out and feel your way through it."

And although he says we often bring grief upon ourselves by making poor decisions that have bad consequences, Johnson acknowledges that bad things happen to good people.

"The redeeming factor is that God is going to redeem the world one day, and nothing that happens to us in this life is final in terms of where we're going to spend eternity," he said.

"God will redeem those things. He will one day right every wrong. But in the meantime, we are facing still some of the things that are going on because in the fall, the devil himself, now understanding that he is not going to win, is more active than he has ever been."

Just Listen!!!

Sometimes it seems we complicate the idea of hearing the voice of God or discerning the will of God. I think that what is behind the complication is the basic desire or lack of desire to hear Him or not. When we seem to have in mind a multitude of options or solutions to an issue, we make the hearing difficult. When we want one answer and that is the very thing He speaks to us, we seem to accept it without hesitation. Truly when we have fewer choices or options it is just simpler to hear Him. When we have all of these ideas, options in mind it is almost as if we want to offer them back to God instead of simply accepting what He says to us in the first place.

I felt similarly in many stores in the United States on my recent visit. Let's say I asked for a "grande americano." Mind you, I can no longer say "grande" without rolling my "r" and the "baristas" often look back at me quizzically. So I ask for my americano and instead of telling me that is it $2.00 and waiting for the payment, they proceed with a variety of other questions.

Barista: "Do you need any other coffee drinks?"
Me: "No thanks."
Barista: "Any pastries to go with that today?"
Me: "No just the coffee, thanks."
Barista: "Would you like to purchase a gift card?"
Me: "No, the coffee is all."

I am not sure how you feel about the onslaught of options but I just felt like my original request was not really heard or accepted. Instead of trusting me that I know what I need or want, they would offer me the rest of the store. Sure, sure...I know this is all part of good marketing and sometimes it does in fact work with customers, but I do not believe it is the way we should respond to God.

God does not exactly just request things of us, He speaks to us and requires obedience. Yet many times it seems like we respond as the barista responded to me. When we don't like His instructions we ask Him if there is any other way to accomplish something. When we don't like His timing, we ask if there is a way He could change things sooner...or later. When we don't really want to be pushed out of out comfort zone, we ask if someone else could complete the task. It is not so much that God does not speak to us, it has more to do with whether or not we choose to hear Him and accept when He says to us.

Home Sweet Home

Fernandino invited us to visit his home in Andahuaylas. This was not his parent's home, but his own home! He had worked hard driving taxis around town and saved up his money. His father used the money to buy materials and built a two room adobe house. One room is the kitchen and the other, the bedroom.

After a 15 minute mototaxi ride, we walked up the side of the mountain. As we got higher and higher the view grew only more incredible. We told Dino that people would pay a pretty penny for property like this!



The entire time we were walking, he continued to say, "I never would have dreamed you would come to my house." I even pinched his arm a few times so he knew he was not dreaming! His humble home was very inviting. There is no running water, no electricity. He cooks by firewood, uses the neighbor's water to wash dishes and I forgot to ask about the bathroom! While we visited he shared that he hopes when people see what he has and where he lives that they will understand the God does indeed bless people. All he has is from God and his passionate desire is to share the love of Jesus with people in Andahuaylas.

The End is Only the Beginning!

One of the main reasons we headed east to the Andes was to participate in the graduation of two dear friends from the Instituto Biblico Teologico in Uripa, Chincheros, Apurimac. Every year students come from many places in order to participate in the classes at the Institute for 8 weeks. The classes in Uripa are held in January and February, but there are other locations which hold their classes at other times of the year.

We spent a few days preparing for the special night by finding the right clothes, buying the right cake and encouraging the graduates. As the special night approached, the underclassmen came dressed up and the graduates decked out in their finest. Elias mentioned that he had always worked very hard to earn money to purchase the things he needed and the fact that someone was buying a suit for him was more than he could believe. For him, donning the new suit meant that a great level of ministry was to begin.

As part of the closing charge, I shared a few words with them, encouraging them to guard carefully the vision God has given them and the call He has placed on their lives. Too many people receive a call of the Lord and fall short of completing it because they are discouraged from the things others say or they just don't see it coming to pass. "Don't let anyone rob your vision, steal your vision or tell you that it is not good. If God gave it to you, hold on to it tightly!"

The Things Above

It is amazing how often we allow our circumstances to rob us of our perspective. Things begin to happen in our life and we focus on the "things." We worry about money, we worry about people, we worry about the future and so many times we worry about ourselves.

So many times, we begin to define God through the particular set of circumstances we are currently facing. If we are facing loss, we choose to see God as someone who takes away. If we are facing difficulties, we may see Him as One who doesn't care. And even as we experience good times and blessings, we may take the perspective that God loves us more than at other times.

We cannot allow our circumstances to define who God is. We must allow God to define our circumstances. It is as though no matter what is set before us, we must see it through God's perspective in order to understand it.

It would be easy for me to take an earthly perspective and be crushed in the midst of difficulties. But, what I must see is how God is using those very situations to form and mold me. How can I do this?

I was reminded of this as I walked through the downtown of Buenos Aires. To see the true beauty, so many times I had to look up. Oh, the building were beautiful at eye level. But people went through the trouble of designing architecture that was not only beautiful at eye level but it drew your attention upward.

Our life circumstances should do the same. We should not only focus on what we see at eye level but should allow those very things to force our gaze upward. God has not randomly selected things for us to go through and grow through. He has us each individually in mind when He orchestrates our lives.

Allow whatever you are going through to force your gaze upward. See the beauty through God's perspective. Realize the God-designed details when you look heavenward.

Refreshment

This past weekend, I was praying for my friend and the conference that Refresh Life had on Saturday when the Lord reminded me of how important the word "refresh " has been in my life.

Several years ago, I was in the initial grieving period following a death in the family. I had never really faced the reality of someone dying and the tragic circumstances in this particular situation made things almost unbearable. I remember spending quite a bit of time trying to journal but really only remember writing to God "I know that you don't give me any more than I can handle, but I just want to let you know I don't think I can handle any more than this." I felt as though I was at the end of my ability to comprehend, understand and make sense of what I was facing.

Much of the time, I poured through the Psalms as it seems to be full of human emotions in difficult times as well as the acknowledgment of the greatness of God in the midst of trying moments. One evening as I sat in a large group Bible study, I had my Bible open to Psalm 84.

How blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee;
In whose heart are the highways to Zion!
Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring,
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
Psalm 84:5-6

In my Bible, the definition listed for Baca is "weeping." So I read "passing through the valley of weeping..." and my heart leaped for joy. I was in the valley of weeping. I had already understood that although we seem to crave mountiantop experiences with our Savior, we will never know Him like we know Him in the valley. There, He draws close and tends to us individually.

Suddenly the promises jumped off the page and right into my heart. First, it did not say that I was going to remain in the valley forever. I was going to pass through the valley. What a relief! The valley is dark, it is painful and incredibly lonely. I was hoping to find the exit soon! I now had my hope on the fact that in His timing, I would pass through this very valley and make it to the other side. Second, I discovered a purpose for my journey in the valley. As I passed through the valley, I would turn it into a place of springs. To my heart, this meant that I would bring refreshment to others due to my journey through the valley of weeping.

To refresh means: to restore strength, to freshen up, to maintain by renewing one's supply, to update or renew, or to run water over. As a result of my time in the valley, I would be equipped with the ability to restore strength to others, to renew their supply and to "pour water over" them. I could not comprehend how I would do these very things, but then and there I noted in my Bible,

With God's strength, I can pass through valleys of weeping and turn them into springs. The valley will be covered with blessing.

This was of great encouragement to me and became my verses of hope during the darkness. Be someone who refreshes others.

Impression or Impact?

Not long ago, I visited the sand dunes of Ica. I found them intriguing and fascinating. A group of us climbed to the top of one of the dunes and I went crazy with the camera. The line of sand as one side meets the other was never erased. The wind blew; people could try and stamp it out. But, the fact was, the line of the dune was always maintained by nature. After a great deal of time, and many photos, we ventured back down. Some returned straight down the sand dune and some took the planned path around the side.

After we all arrived at the bottom, it was amazing to look back up to the top and consider that we had just been up there. However, you would never know it if you were looking for evidence. The marks our feet or shoes had made were quickly filled in with sand, rapidly blown away by the wind and simply leveled out by others.

How often does this describe our life? We cross the paths of others, we have possibilities to speak into the lives of those around us, and constantly God gives us opportunities to minister to people. But…what do we do with those opportunities and possibilities? Do we make an impression or an impact?

We left many impressions as we walked on the sand dunes that day. What is an impression? Merriam Webster describes it as “a characteristic, trait, or feature resulting from some influence,” as well as “an often indistinct or imprecise notion or remembrance.” We may be considered a good influence or someone that others remember. But is that enough? Is that what we are called to do?

I believe God desires to use our lives to make an impact in the world around us. This is defined by “a significant or major effect,” or “to have a direct effect on.” I find it interesting that some of the synonyms listed include: shock, collision, and concussion. Have you ever considered that your life should cause a shock to others? Do you think that God wants you to cause significant or major changes?

What do we do when we see wet cement? Almost always, the temptation comes over us to step in it, write in it or somehow “make our mark.” We want to leave something that will last and as the wet cement dries, our mark becomes permanent. When others pass by that spot, they will forever see what we have left there.

We can easily walk through life and leave a “footprint.” But, these sand dunes reminded me that if I am not careful, I will only leave an impression that could easily be erased by whatever comes along next. That is not my desire. I do not desire to climb the mountains of life only to look back and wonder where it is I have walked. I do not desire to cross the paths of many people only to look back and see that my interaction with them marked nothing but the surface.

As Christians, we have a responsibility to make an impact and not just an impression. We must see people and situations as wet cement and be led by that same overwhelming desire to create a permanent mark. As opportunities arise, we must make an IMPACT so that our encounter with another is not easily erased.

Make it a goal in 2007 to use every opportunity, every possibility and every encounter to make an IMPACT and not just a good impression.

Prospero Año Nuevo!

So you are wondering how to celebrate the beginning of 2007? Peruvians have their own ideas of how to ring in the New Year. Get prepared so you too can celebrate Peruvian style on Sunday night!

At midnight, eat one grape for each month of 2007 under the table and ask for a wish for each grape you eat.

If you want a year full of travel, take your suitcases and walk around the block with them at midnight. They need not be full. This will bring a year full of trips for you!

For a year of abundance, take coins in your hands and throw them over your shoulders at midnight. They can be old coins or ones that are otherwise “useless.”

Write your heart’s desire on a piece of paper then place a gold candle on top of it. Burn the candle through the night and allow the melted wax to cover the paper. You then throw out the wax covered paper in the morning.

Make a doll (scarecrow style) out of old clothes and at midnight, burn the doll with the old clothes in the street. This represents burning up all of the “old.” You should be dressed in all new clothing.

To welcome the New Year, decorate your table with sunflowers!

Wear yellow clothing on January 1^st in order to have a good year. It is best to have yellow clothing that has been given to you. Those that truly believe this dress completely in yellow but most just make sure their underwear is yellow!

Most importantly, may GOD bless your New Year!!!

Peace in the Storm

Storms can be very destructive. I have read lately about rain storms flooding the Aceh Province of Indonesia, displacing hundreds of thousands, killing more than a hundred and requiring aid for thousands. The blizzard in Denver, Colorado essentially shut down the city and they are bracing themselves for yet another snow storm this weekend. The Bay Area reported storms so fierce that electricity is out for tens of thousands and a woman became the victim to a toppled tree. Even here in Peru, some desert regions have been hit by storms causing ancient mud ruins to be saturated with water.

The disciples of Jesus were also affected by storms. After a great deal of teaching, Jesus led his disciples onto a boat with the intention of crossing the Sea of Galilee. As the fierce winds rose and water began to fill up the boat, these men likely drew on their knowledge of the stormy seas; many of them were fishermen by trade. Once they had depleted their own resources, they called upon Jesus, who was sleeping! How did Jesus respond to the disciples' news that they were perishing at the hands of the wind and rain? Jesus simply declared peace over the storm. He rebuked the winds and told the sea to be still.

We have storms in our lives. They may not be brought on by wind and rain, but their effects can be just as destructive. What is our response to life's storms? Often times, we react just as the disciples did that evening on the Sea of Galilee. We draw upon our knowledge, our experience and our very own resources to save ourselves. Once we realize that it is not within our power, we call out to Jesus. Could we respond differently?

Jesus was able to speak peace over the wind and sea because He had peace within Him. He did not allow the storm to enter Him. In contrast, the disciples were affected inwardly by the storm around them. They cried out to Jesus in desperation, "Save us, we are perishing!" The storm entered into the disciples and they were not filled with peace in order to calm the storm.

What storms are you facing? What storms am I facing? You and I must be committed to maintaining peace within our heart. We must not allow the storms to get inside of us, but we must cultivate the peace of God within our hearts which allows us to speak peace over the storms in our life. Although the storms will bring external destruction and chaos, our hearts must be full of reassuring peace.

"Peace be still."

Pain

"The pure truth, spoken in pure love, will always attract. You will remember the pain you feel here, and it will help you through the rest of your life. Pain is good; it shows you where there is a problem. Do not try to reduce the pain until you find the problem. God's truth often brings pain as it highlights a problem that we have, but His truth will always show us the way to freedom, too. When you know this you will even begin to rejoice in your trials, which are all allowed to help keep you on the path of life." (from The Final Quest by Rick Joyner)

The Unknown, The Unseen and The Uncontrollable

God does not always let me in on what He is doing and often that leaves me in the dark. Funny, I think that is where He wants me to be! Not in the dark in an evil sense; but in the dark walking by the Light who is Jesus. However, I too experience moments of confusion, of panic, of worry and I long to know how He will fix the problem. But God does not have to fill me in on how He will resolve things; I must simply trust that He will.

God is teaching me that I cannot rely on my understanding or my perception of a situation. True understanding and complete perception lies in Him alone. Being someone who really enjoys making plans and know what direction things are going in, it can be difficult when I don't seem to have a clue. Recently I was doing some studying some events in the life of Jesus. The healing of the bleeding woman taught us that He has authority over disease and the resurrection of a little girl teaches us that He has authority over death. The funny thing is that He was afforded the opportunity to show His authority over death because the woman "interrupted" His journey to heal the sick little girl and allowed enough time for her to die. Upon arrival at the house, He created a private moment and healed her. At times Jesus allows a delay and an apparent worsening of the situation in order to bring more glory to Himself. I must choose to trust His timing, His wisdom, His leading in the many occasions that I simply do not understand.

Take today for instance. I had coffee with a friend and upon leaving the mall, I had already set my mind on taking the bus home - a nice 30-40 minute ride back to my street. The red and green bus pulled around the corner (and no it is not because of Christmas!) and I climbed aboard. After some time of winding through the streets of Miraflores, we came upon a detour. We were in gridlock while herds of people were walking the other direction, dressed or decorated in purple. Today is All Saint's Day and they had closed down a number of streets on my route in order to take the idols for a walk. After we passed through the gridlock, I assumed we were making our way back to the original route; but something within me told me I had gotten on the wrong bus. Panic arose and I began to look for a place to get off and for another familiar bus. I was using the time to pray and try to understand how God was at work in my life through the various situations I am faced with. I had no idea what direction I was headed, I had no idea where the destination would be, but I had to calm my heart and trust that God was in control. Eventually, I realized I was headed back to my street; I had taken the scenic route which afforded me a 2 hour journey, a cobrador who was upset I paid only 1 sol for my trip and time to be reminded I must trust.

When I want to know what the outcome will be of a difficult situation...trust
When I claim to not understand...trust
When I desire answers, reassurance...trust
When I cannot see the end at the beginning...trust

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
Lean not on your own understanding.
In all of your ways acknowledge Him and
He will make your path straight.
Proverbs 3:5&6

My prayer is that I would trust My God with the unknown, the unseen and uncontrollable. May He and He alone be Lord over my heart.