A year ago, we were in the States for deputation, recovering from the trauma of the typhoon flooding we experienced and wasn't even slightly interested in returning to the Philippines. My faithful Father gently listened to my cries and used a scene from the flood to heal me. First, he pointed me to Luke 7:24...
" 24 After John’s disciples left, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? "
Was I being a weak reed, swayed by the hard times? Later in that chapter is the story of the prostitute breaking the alabaster jar of perfume on Jesus' feet. Jesus said to those around him, questioning the behavior, “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love."
As I was processing this story, I looked at this picture
...This is one of the rivers in Manila, riddled with houses and furniture and junk. In my heart I heard that gentle voice say to me....Linda, see all that junk....it's just like all the anger and resentment you are holding onto, your own sins. Let me wash your heart clean, just like the typhoon washed away all that rubbish. But when I am finished, you will be whiter than snow. There won't be any rubbish backed up in the river beds." I really felt, at that moment, all that anger and resentment and pain and sorrow wash away.
I do not have a green thumb. My mother is really great with plants, but I do not share that gift. I usually don't water my plants. It is quite simple, really. So, when I don't water my plants, I can't expect them to stay green and beautiful. This year I have learned that I can survive heat and drought, and my leaves can stay green and I can continue to produce fruit, I don't mean actual physical heat and drought, but metaphorical heat and drought. Even though I don't understand the why's or the what's, I can, and do, always trust my Savior...my hope is in him and my confidence is in him...
Jeremiah 17:7-8
“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
"They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
and they never stop producing fruit."
I love that fact that my LORD is my constant source, and that no matter what goes on around me, I can always produce fruit....I have felt the hand of God and his beautiful presence in the midst of heat and drought and know this to be true!
This last October I was reminded that Jesus said "I will build my church"... "you go and make disciples".... My responsibility is to disciple the people around me....to simply help them take one step closer to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ! God will build the church here in the Philippines....I am to disciple the people God puts in my life...I love that because it reminds me that Jesus said "take my yoke upon you for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." God is also building the church in the States, and in every country and nation....we are simply called to "go and make disciples." The lady I chat with in the grocery store...I can say something to try to help her take one step closer to Jesus. The mother of the disabled child I share the waiting room with every week...help her take one step closer to Jesus. The guys that deliver my water....just one step. The lady I buy groceries from...bless her...just one step. What if every time I had an interaction with someone they took one step closer to Jesus. Eventually, depending on how many interactions I had with that person, they would meet Jesus, face to face.
Do you ever feel like an Israelite? You know, God has done incredible, incredible things in your life, and then you start whining and moaning about some ridiculous thing? Well, that basically sums me up some times. I have really been feeling homesick, and feeling the sacrifice of being separated from family and things I know and understand...my culture...being in a country where there are different bugs and diseases that are not in the states, etc., etc., etc. I was reading in Hosea and this verse leaped off the page...
Hosea 6:6
I want you to show love,
not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me
more than I want burnt offerings.
Wow....He really just wants my relationship...not my "sacrifices," not my "burnt offerings." He wants me to have love for others, to show it. It's about experiencing relationship with God, to such a degree that it oozes off onto those around me. I am sure that I haven't finished processing that one yet.
I don't know what is in store for this coming year, but I do know that God is guiding and directing us all along the path, and that every step of the way, he is guiding us.
Isaiah 42:16
I'll take the hand of those who don't know the way,
who can't see where they're going.
I'll be a personal guide to them,
directing them through unknown country.
I'll be right there to show them what roads to take,
make sure they don't fall into the ditch.
These are the things I'll be doing for them—
sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute."
Whatever the LORD has in store for us this coming year, whatever the LORD has in store for you this coming year, I pray we all sit back, watch, and be amazed at what God does!
Habakkuk 1:5 says...
The Lord replied,
“Look around at the nations;
look and be amazed!
For I am doing something in your own day,
something you wouldn’t believe
even if someone told you about it.
Look around at the godless nations.
Look long and hard. Brace yourself for a shock.
Something's about to take place
and you're going to find it hard to believe.
We love you and love serving our Savior! We pray this year brings you freedom from sin, green leafs in your time of drought, many steps closer to your Savior and that you will KNOW your Savior and not just offer sacrifices and burnt offerings :) Then....watch and be amazed!!!
Blessings on you!!!
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