Update: we’ve spent the past month in the state of Manipur, India and now we’re in the state of Assam! This past month has been a wonderful experience of furthering my dependence on the lord. It’s not been easy but looking back I can see so clearly all of the blessings that have come my way during my time in India.
Traveling from Manipur to Assam is roughly 50 miles by distance.. but the one lane, winding roads through the mountains made it to be about a 15 hour bus ride. This bus ride was not for the faint of heart. The amount of times we almost ran head on into another vehicle coming around the mountain and looking how close we were to the cliff at any given moment was enough to make anyone’s stomach a bit uneasy. 15 hours was a lot of time to think and pray and I’m glad to say that the lord shed some light into my life during this time of travel.
In a previous blog I wrote about my future, how I was unsure about what is to come but how I am learning to seek after the planner instead of the plan. During that time the lord has provided me with so much peace and rest in Him concerning this but of course I still tend to worry. I’ve learned so much during this waiting period and have been truly blessed in the ways I’ve learned. I’ve had so many life giving conversations highlighting the Lord’s faithfulness through it all, and had a new curiosity sparked in wanting to know what the lord is doing in other peoples lives. I know He has been so intentional about waiting to tell me what’s going to happen next so that I’ve learned to seek after Him through His word and being poured into by others around me.
So, back to the bus ride. As we snaked up and down the mountain, any time I would look at the road in front of me I would slightly panic, not knowing how our sketchy little Indian bus would make it around these tight curves in the road. I would get so worried, thinking our bus would tip over or run off of the road or something horrible like that, but as time went on I listened to what God was trying to tell me. I saw the resemblance between my current situation concerning my future and my reality of driving through the mountains of India. He showed me throughout the ride that I was looking at my situation the same way I was looking at the road ahead: afraid of how I’d get there, how in the world I would make it to the next part. Peace settled in when He showed me that I am not the one driving. He is the one who’s in control, He is constant when nothing else is.
During this time of waiting I’ve started to declare truth over myself when it’s the last thing I want to do, verses like Isaiah 43:16, “thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters” He doesn’t just let us sit and drown with no direction— He has us in His mighty hands!! He makes a way for His children! And Psalms 37:7&23, “Be still before the lord and wait patiently for him” & “the steps of a man are established by the Lord when he delights in his way.” Ive started to believe these truths in my heart instead of letting them just sit on the surface of my brain. I’ve also been thinking about how much more comfortable it is to sit in the father’s love rather than that bus— I’m not in control in either way, but it’s a lot more enjoyable to simply just sit back.
