If I’m being 100% honest, I was pretty unsure of what to do this blog about up until about thirty seconds ago. Then all of God’s signs finally clicked, and His plan for just a simple blog was made known. I think it’s cool how God works – how He can do that. He is just so able and makes it known in the simplest ways, yet it is so reassuring.
Some may know, some may not; however, as I write this on a Thursday, in just two short days I will be hopping on the largest commercial flight made and take a fifteen hour plane ride across the world to East Asia to do the work of God. I will come home just after the New Year, which means, yep, you guessed it – I won’t be home for Christmas.
Every time I talk about this I usually get the same response, “Wow, that’s great, but are you sure you want to miss Christmas with your family?” and honestly, at first, I was kind of sad about it. I won’t be there to see my family Christmas morning; I’m missing the big Christmas production at church, and I won’t even be home in time for passion. However, how does any of that even slightly compare to what God has called me to do instead? I can’t begin to express my gratefulness to God for this awesome opportunity and the way He has worked to bring everything together for His will that is so obvious in this situation.
I remember when I first got called to do this. Literally in February I knew God was calling me to do this over my break. I remember all the emotions and anxiety I felt because I will be entering a closed country. Actually, to be completely honest, I have been pretty anxious up until this week. I had been praying for peace and asking for others to pray for it as well. I began to worry a lot about the future because I was still feeling anxious, but this week a huge peace came over me, and all of my fear disappeared.
I think that can be a problem with a lot of Christians – not just Christians going on mission trips. We often tend to forget that God is ultimately in control over everything, and we worry. However, He is so faithful, and He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). God’s timing is not our timing, and His ways are not our ways. I realize now that if I had felt peace earlier that I might have begun worrying again because I would have become comfortable in my peace. However, because He granted me peace at the time He did, I am able to rest in the peace and carry it with me.
My devotion today really helped me to see that He is constant and perfect in timing. All it spoke of was resting in Him – He is never changing. and He is so constant and will always answer our prayers. The worry of the future only causes our hearts to become heavy and causes restlessness when He is calling for us to come to Him and find rest.
I guess the main point of this is to always rest in Him and His unchanging ways, rather than lose sight of the only constant in our lives. This world is constantly screaming at us to worry and plan for the future when God is laughing at us because He already knows, and He’s already there doing His work.
If you made it to the end, thank you so much for bearing with me, and now I have a challenge for you. QUIT WORRYING. Trust God and His plan to be there where you cannot be and rest in Him. Also, I have a small request. Please be in prayer for me and everybody else on my team to do everything for the will of Him and for safety overall. I am so thankful for this opportunity, and I cannot wait to tell all about the way God has moved in the people I come in contact with and in me.