Sunday, April 25, 2010

In His Light

There are days when I feel
That I just can't go on
Every thing that I try
It just seems to go so wrong
But I know that my Savior
Is right by my side
That is why I'll walk in His light

Help me to walk in the light of the Lord
Help me to walk in the Way
Help me to walk in the light of the Lord
Until my final day

My dear Jesus said
"I'm the light of the world
If you'll just follow me
You'll walk in darkness no more"
It's a promise He gave us
He'll be right by your side
So receive Him and walk in His light

Help me to walk in the light of the Lord
Help me to walk in the Way
Help me to walk in the light of the Lord
Until my final day

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Struggles

Ever been at a place in your life where you knew you should be doing something like cleaning the house, hanging up clothes, washing dishes, diving into the Word of God, getting on your knees and praying, but you just had no desire to do anything but sit around and do nothing? I'm not talking about being lazy on an occasional evening, but during repeated evenings, to have no desire to do anything.

Ever had that feeling like God was trying to tell you something but his voice would only come through in bits and pieces because you were not really listening to what He might be saying?

Ever known that He was about to do something great (or may even be in the middle of doing something great) but you were under so much oppression from the enemy that you couldn't enjoy what God was doing?

Ever allowed your joy to be taken from you?

If your answer is "No", then you are either very blessed, very righteous, not paying attention, or a liar. (I'll leave that between you and our Savior.)

Fact is, there are times when we, as Christians, struggle. We have days when the desire to do anything besides be with God is overwhelming. We often will allow the world and all its trappings to invade our lives and make things so noisy that we can't hear God. We miss out on part, most, or all of what God is doing in certain situations because we are not expecting Him to show up or to do anything. It's easy to sit and stew in our own misery. But it takes action to kneel before the throne of grace. And even though I use the word "we", the words are coming from "me". I am the one with the current struggles. I am the one in need of a face-to-face at the throne. I am the one who has allowed other things to clutter my mind, not leaving much room for the lessons my Lord wants me to learn.

Please take a moment and pray for me.
Pray for God's best to be done in my life.
Pray that my desire for Christ grows.
Pray for His best to be done with CSI JAMAICA.
Pray for His grace to be poured out daily on His servants, both here and there.
Pray for His direction to be clear.

And as much as it is currently "me", "I" or even "we", it very easily could wind up being "you" all by yourself. So please feel free to share with me any concerns that I might be able to go to the Father with on your behalf.

We were never promised that the life of a Christ Follower would be easy. Oh, there are moments when things may go smoothly, but those are the moments when we must realize that we should be preparing for the battles that are coming. Because the battles will come. Frustrations will come. Struggles will come. And our Lord will be right there with us all the way.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Ants In The Sugar Bowl

This is a poem by Elizabeth Givens that was given out when I attended mission training in April/May 2008. I understood it pretty well before coming to the mission field, but now I understand it so much better.

Ants In The Sugar Bowl

So send I you:

To ants in the sugar bowl

To things that fly, creep, and crawl into the house

To uncertain water, sporadic electricity

To long hours, sweltering heat, exhausting days

To uncomfortable vehicles, crowded jeeps, smelly buses

To noisy early, EARLY mornings

To rice, rice, and more rice

To poverty you didn’t believe existed

To masses of people like you have never seen

To know and work with people who have never known comfort

So send I you

So send I you:

To people who will give to you from their poverty

To friends that will embarrass you with their generosity

To pastors that will entertain you from their lack, with bounty

To hungry, receptive, questioning people who want to know God

To study, to teach, to learn from your study and teaching

To probe your own motives, values, and beliefs

To learn about yourself and the culture that has reared you

To know God and to understand more deeply dependence on Him

So send I you.

Are you going? I’ll go with you all the way.

Elizabeth Givens