"The antidote to frustration is a calm faith, not in your own cleverness, or in hard toil, but in God's guidance"
-Norman Vincent Peale
This past week has taught me more about letting go and trusting God, than any other moment in my life thus far. It seems as though this week has been full of ups and downs, and frustrations that are our of my control. Everything seems out of my control mainly because I am in another country, unable to call back home for damage control, or even just weigh in my own opinion on certain issues. As this morning unfolded for me I became more and more frustrated in the fact that I couldn't just pick up a phone and call somebody to take care of many issues that were arising. All I wanted to do was get in my car and drive to where I needed to be at that moment and speak my mind about so many different things. Instead all I could do was sit in my room and cry…hoping none of my teammates could hear me or would walk in on me..that way at least I was dealing with it on my own while I was here.
It is not that I do not love my team…that is quite the opposite..I think my team has a very trusting and open relationship with one another..completely vulnerable in every moment possible, but in that moment I wanted to be alone because I was not in control. As I was reading my Bible I came across 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 and despite what you may think..it was not about giving up control or having faith…but the summary of those verses was about why we are put through trials and discomforts. We are put through these instances NOT because God wants to punish us or see us in misery, but because this builds in us "a patient endurance" which allows us to comfort others in their time of need.
In this moment…in my own pity party…I realized that faith is not only trusting God that he will take care of issues, but it is trusting God that until these issues are taken care of, any discomfort we go through can later be used as a benefit how we disciple others and the furthering of His Kingdom.
I also glanced back to a memory from a few days ago about a man named Manuel. This man could not speak..he could barely even walk and all I ever got out of our conversations was a few hand gestures and a HUGE grin. When Manuel saw the church was being opened up in Cigual..he came as fast as he could just to sit in the presence of other believers and we sat and shared Bible verses for quite a while with him. I remembered that wow…this man could not speak…but yet he was content just listening to what we had to say..he had no ability to disagree with us or say anything against what was going on and all he did was smile.
Just a reminder that just because you can't voice your opinion doesn't mean you always have to..LET GO AND LET GOD!
"Fear can keep us up all night long, but faith makes one fine pillow."
-Author Unknown
