10-16-12
“The greatness of our God must be tested by the desire we have of suffering for His sake.” –Philip Neri
I don’t do so well in the dark. When I was little, I would literally sprint through unlit rooms in my house, terrified of what might hide in the shadows. (Confession – I still do that sometimes!) Here in Haiti, we don’t often have electricity until LATE into the night. When it does finally come on, there is a mad scramble for computers, phones, cameras, E-readers and chargers for all of the above – no outlet is left untouched! Before that, though, we pretty much rely on our handy-dandy headlamps. If you’re envisioning a crew of 19 female coalminers, you’ve basically got the right idea!
This month has helped me throw off a lot of expectations – living in consistent light being one of them. Until tonight, though, I didn’t realize one expectation I hadn’t yet managed to shirk. I EXPECT TO HAVE LIGHTS IN CHURCH! I mean, wasn’t it God who said, “Let there be light”?
Tonight, smack in the middle of worship (i.e. two hours after the service began) the generator servicing the lights, the ONE speaker and microphone, and the electronic keyboard WENT OFF (not sure if that’s the correct terminology, but you get the picture.) NO LIGHTS. NO SOUND. NO MORE CHURCH?
I sat in my pew (a conglomeration of 2x4s) observing an interesting moment. WE “Blancs” (American white people) just kind of froze. “What now?”
This isn’t all that shocking. For most of us, if this happened at home, the service would pause until a few deacons assessed what had gone wrong and if they weren’t able to fix it after 10 minutes or so, things would probably postpone until circumstances returned to normal.
Our Haitian brothers and sisters had a much different reaction. Lights or no lights, sound or no sound, sing continued. Prayer shot up to a higher octave. “We press on,” they seemed to say. REAL WORSHIP DOES NOT BOW TO ADVERSITY.
I couldn’t help thinking of Jesus and about how likely it was that He preached, or prayed, or performed miracles with out any lights. How many times did he go about a day of ministry after a horrible night’s sleep? How many times was he hungry or tired or just “not feeling it?”
We, and I do mean I, can come up with some superbly lame excuses for discontinuing God’s purposes, but all in all, perfect circumstances ARE NOT required, and moreover, they ARE NOT likely. Persisting in our walk with God despite less-that-ideal conditions is indicative of our devotion to Him. Do I think God ALWAYS puts us in crappy situations just so He can test our willingness to stay the course? Of course not. He’s pretty merciful, after all, and there is none of us more righteous than the other or considered a better Christian because we endure momentary discomfort for the sake of proclaiming or praising the name of God. However, the Bible does promise that as children of God, persecution and suffering are almost guaranteed. Adversity magnifies the faith and the adoration of the believer.
“For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,” –Philippians 1:29
“…they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name” –Acts 5:41
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trails of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” –James 1:2
Eventually the lights did came back on, and services continued like normal (with my friend Andrea Wassick bringing a seriously powerful message about receiving God’s discipline willingly – click her name to check out her blog-site.) Somehow, though, I’m looking forward to the next time it gets dark. Through fear, through discomfort, through trial or through challenge, I look forward to the opportunity to continually serve a God worthy of so much praise, to show the world that NOTHING stops the constant desire to see His name lifted high!
Be Blessed,
Ashlee
