“The strength of patience hangs on our capacity to believe that God is up to something good for us in all our delays and detours.” John Piper
Hello, friends! I am now writing from the United States of America! Actually, I have been home for a month already. God took me to deep places in my faith that I had never been before by doing the one thing I though unimaginable…
Sending me home early.
It all started with a weird itchy, burning, peeling rash on my lips. I assumed that my lips had just gotten sunburned, but then the rash started to spread around my mouth, to my ears, and then all over my face. A few weeks later the rash had spread everywhere from my waist up.
It was extremely painful. I would wake up in the middle of the night in agony. The pain was so bad that I had to pace to keep my mind off of my skin. But never once did I consider going home because of it.
I ended up going to an emergency room in Nicaragua, and they determined that it was just an allergic reaction. After giving me an IV and pumping pain reliever and allergy medicine into me, they sent me home with some allergy pills.
I thought that was the end of my little fiasco. However, days went by and my rash continued to spread. One day I got home from ministry and was told that my dad was worried about me and wanted me to call him. Now, any of you who know my dad know that he doesn’t worry about anything. Confused, I called my dad and he told me that he had talked to three doctors about my rash, including a dermatologist and ER doctor, and that they had all concluded that I should come home because the rash could be something serious.
I was shocked. I was loving life and ministry in Nicaragua and now God was taking that away from me?
After seeing another doctor in Nicaragua who also had concerns of something more serious, I flew home the next day. It was the hardest part of the Race for me, leaving early when there was still work to be done. I arrived in the Springfield airport, and was examined by a dermatologist that night. Nothing definite was concluded so at this point, I am going to get some further testing done to try and figure out what happened.
I was so confused and disappointed and even angry at God because I felt like He had stolen my last month away from me. I was selfish and proud and thought that I knew the best way for God to use me. I struggled with having faith that God was working for my good. But God, who is ever patient and kind and slow to anger, comforted me with these words: “My plans and My purposes are pure.”
I will probably never know this side of eternity why God needed me in America for the last month of the Race. And that’s okay. I had some amazing conversations with people that wouldn’t have happened had I come home when I was scheduled to. I had some incredible opportunities for the Spirit to speak through me to young people. And through this, God rooted out some weeds of unbelief in my soul.
It was one of the hardest things I have ever walked through. But God was with me. And He is for me. I can rest assured that no matter what people think or say, I have walked where Jesus led me. I learned that sometimes the story doesn’t turn out the way we want it to. But I know now more than ever that God is good and that His plans are far above ours.
