Hello friends! It’s been awhile since my last blog (over a month) and for that I am sorry. I have been learning a lot, though. I would like to share with you something that God was speaking to me today (and by the way, today is Saturday, November 18, but I can’t post this until much later because there is no internet).
So after like five days of travel and six different flights, we arrived at our ministry for this month. We are in Indonesia! We did get lucky, though, when our last flight got cancelled and the airline booked us a sweet hotel for the night! We are spending this month on an island called Nias. It is pretty primitive here, so that is why I do not have access to Wifi. However, I am enjoying my time without internet access. Sometimes it’s good to take a break from it all, I think. Only I miss talking to my fam and friends, especially you Mom! Still, I believe the time away from facebook and friends is a blessing for our team right now. More time to focus on what God wants to do through us and teach us during our time here.
Man, today was fun. After a week or so of intense English classes (usually 4-5 hours each day), a little physical labor here and there (digging for a septic tank and clearing woods to make room for more plants), 5 am devotionals (which are fun), and worship sessions every night (which I love), we got treated to a trip to the local beach with our host, Jeverson. It was a great way to take the day off. We relaxed, played in the waves, and played with Jeverson’s adorable little girls, Austin and Naomi (they are 5 and 2 years old). We had a lot of fun and got a little sunburnt, but while we were in the water, the Lord was trying to tell me something.
I was launching myself up over an incoming wave as I watched one of my friends jump over it with me, while another ducked under it and then another just leaned in to face it head on. As I landed on the other side, I noticed that we were all smiling and laughing, that we were all just fine. The Lord dropped it into my spirit that this is how we should face the waves in our lives. The real waves, the storms, the hard times, the misfortunes, the mistreatments, whatever the wave may be. We know that waves are often used to represent symbolically these types of situations. However, when we embrace the waves, wow – what a difference it makes. It’s a lot of fun! It seems to me that every wave is similar. Though we all have different challenges, every challenge is in its essence the same – it’s a challenge. The Bible says to rejoice when we face trials. You may not have highlighted that verse, but it’s in there, and for good reason. I know God was telling me that it is one of the most important keys to living a fruitful and fulfilled life in Christ. Hear me when I say that it doesn’t matter what you are going through or what you have been through; you can live through anything with joy in your heart. I’m not talking about happiness. Happiness is usually a choice, but sometimes not possible because of a situation or hardship that you’re going through. Joy, on the other hand, is a given for those of us who have put our faith in Jesus, regardless of the storm and in spite of the hardship. What did Paul say again? He said to rejoice when we are faced with trials. He didn’t say to be happy. Joy is a gift that no one can take away; however, we can let it go if we choose to, or if we don’t know that we have it or how to hold on to it. The enemy wants to steal your joy, but he’ll have to do it through deception, deceiving you into giving it up. I believe it is illegal to be discouraged as a Christian. It’s unscriptural. You can say, “Look at Psalms! David was a man after God’s own heart and he got discouraged all the time!” First of all, David never gave up, and always decided that he would rejoice in the Lord and give him praise no matter his situation. He also was always convinced that God would fight on his behalf, which I would advise you to copy him on that end! Besides that, David lived in the old covenant, which had glory, but our covenant has much more glory. We have a better covenant with better promises. If you read through the New Testament, it is filled with a call to everlasting joy and peace, regardless of circumstances. The verse I alluded to is only one of many that talk about being joyful, perseverant, filled with hope, diligent, and having confidence in God. The way I see it, and the way I believe the Gospel teaches it, is that if we are discouraged, we are looking at the wrong thing. If we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, then we will be much less moved by the storm.
Whatever your wave is, make sure you are looking on the other side of it, not just at the wave. Although I believe in living in the moment, I also know that having eyes that can’t see through the lens of faith and a heart that can’t find hope in the midst of a storm is dangerous. Remember when Peter took his eyes off Jesus and looked out at the wind and waves? He fell. As long as he was focused on Jesus, though, he could walk on the water! He was above the storm when looking at Jesus. The storm will pass. It happens every time. However, it is usually not the storm that kills people. It’s usually when we lose hope and let the waves knock us over that we drown. You can duck or dive under the wave, jump over it, brace yourself and take it head on, or hop on some kind of board and ride that thing out. Whatever you do, don’t let the wave knock you down and stay there. I don’t mean to be insensitive, I know that people go through extremely difficult things, and many are much worse than anything I have passed through. But the truth is, if we can learn to focus on the truth of God’s word and what he says about us, we can never be discouraged for long. Hope is the anchor of the soul. This is more than just being positive. Nonbelievers can do that, too. This is having a heart filled with hope and trust in the One who loves you more than you could ever fathom, the One who numbers the hairs on your head, and Who has more thoughts for you than the sands of the seas, and all of His thoughts are for your good.
Rest assured, brothers and sisters, there will be tough times. Storms will come. Waves will break when you least expect it. But don’t be surprised. Don’t think it’s strange when trials come your way, because your brothers all over the world are facing the same things. Come on, let’s fight the good fight of faith! The fight has nothing to do with physical weapons or even with other people. It’s keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus instead of the storms or any of the millions of distractions that try to steal your attention everyday. That’s what faith is. Faith is a perspective. It’s the way we see the world, the way we see others, the way we see ourselves, and the way we know God. We know that the worlds were created by faith, not because we saw it happen. Don’t lean on your own understanding. Don’t look on the things which you can see, because they are temporary; but look on the things which you can’t see, because they are eternal (aka God’s Word). The heavens and the earth will pass away, but His word endures forever. We don’t war with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers and rulers of darkness in heavenly, or spiritual, places. Neither are our weapons carnal, but they are mighty for pulling down strongholds. Your weapon is your perspective. Your faith is your fight and your faith is your might! Amen.
Peace and love in Christ,
Reece
P.S. I will try to post more blogs more often. Thanks for reading.
