1 Peter 5:10-11 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
I think it is
rather easy to give advice and counsel on “how” to suffer and go through trials
AFTER we have made it through one. We
like to show our battle scars and tell others how they will “make it” and that
they “just need to have faith”.
Personally, when I
am going through something, I have to be honest, I don’t want anyone’s cliché statements,
nor do I want to hear how they made it through their own tough times. I just want them to listen to me as I work
things out in my own mind.
Today as I write
this post I am carrying several heavy, heavy burdens. As I wept at the kitchen sink I asked myself,
“Sheri, where is your faith?” My
response was, “I don’t think I feel or have any today.” I feel like the man in the New Testament who
asked Jesus to help his unbelief.
For the most part
I think being a missionary is easy. I
enjoy it. I love other cultures, I love
the complications and hurdles that speaking another language present because
they are a challenge to overcome. I like
having challenges. I like the feeling of
being pressed to act in spite of my weakness.
But every now and then Faith stands up and punches me in the face and
reminds me that I am to be living by It.
Missions and Faith are inseparable.
I get so good at figuring out the hard things in ministry and living
abroad that I can forget to exercise plain old faith.
Today I am being
reminded by Faith and she has given me a black eye.
So, do I just sit
down and cry? I want to. I want to go to my room, get under the covers
and weep. But, Amelia and Sam are
watching me. Should I teach them that
tears are better than prayer? Mark has
to preach tomorrow. He is tired from
building the house, yet he is sitting at the table going through receipts,
doing paperwork and persevering. Should
I add to his burdens and be a weak wife?
What do I do? What will you do
when it is your turn to have faith?
Cry if you must,
but don’t stay there. Get up. Go outside and look up at that sky where you
see living proof of your Creator and talk to Him. Tell Him everything you are feeling and tell
Him you cannot make it if He doesn’t help you.
Tell Him you need help with your unbelief. And then live the next 5 minutes in that
faith. Then when it is used up and the
weight sinks your heart again, go talk to God again. By the end of the day, you will have
exercised your faith. And just like with
bodily exercise, you will feel the effects, you will feel depleted, but
strong. You will know that you have done
all you can possibly do to leave everything with the Lord.
It is an absolute
impossibility for me to fix my problems today.
There is absolutely no answer.
But I will rise up and talk to God and not let them overcome me. If I do, then I will repent and try again
tomorrow. Those mercies are new every
morning for a reason….we need them. If
you are reading this today and you are down, look around, you have
company. We are NOT alone in our
struggles. God is very present and He
has not left us to suffer without cause.
All that sadness and despairing is helping to strengthen us, establish
us, settle us and perfect us, why?
Finish the next verse, it is so that He may be glorified. Isn’t He worth your tears? He is so abundantly good to us and we deserve
a lot worse than what we are going through.
So let Him get some glory while He works in your life.
Until next time,
Lord willing,
Sheri
Praise the Lord! He always knows just what I need to hear, and He uses His faithful servants to give the answer!
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