Last night, I had the most incredible (albeit, simple) epiphany that I’ve had in a while.
No matter where I am, who I am with, or what I am doing – He is still God.
Whether I am in Chile or South Korea, he is God. He is just as mighty when I am eating breakfast as he is mighty when I am studying my Bible. God does not change. This realization was incredibly calming to me as I began to panic over the many upcoming changes in my life. I think that when human beings experience change, something sinful within us wants to fight it. If we were without sin, we might recognize that all change comes from God and we could feel peaceful about accepting changes. Unfortunately, we are not sinless. I especially fight change. I fight anything that feels as if it could go awry. Moving out could be painful and traumatic, attempting to raise funds could fail, and traveling could be dangerous. Most of these changes seem as if they could go horribly wrong at any given moment. Last night, God seemed to whisper something calming to me; “When you are out of control, you must realize that you were never in control to begin with.” Something about that notion instantly soothed my spirit.
The overwhelming fear of failure slipped away as I grasped onto the fact that I have no reason to fear. I cannot fail because I am not the one in control. God is in control, and he never fails. Therefore, I cannot fail so long as I remember who is guiding my every move.
I read the news stories from Ukraine and Romania on tense relations with Russia. Politicians leaving Peruvian people to fight their own way out of the mud and grime left behind by landslides. Domestic abuse and marital rape being viewed as “normal” in Indian households. All of these things drive me to work harder towards the goal of reaching the people within these countries.
I feel the words of Mordecai speaking to Esther when she was called to rescue the Jews from persecution; Esther 4:14 “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
If I forget the promise made to Joshua in Joshua 1:5 when he was instructed to take Moses’ position among the people of Israel, then I will lose my way. For Joshua 1:5 says very clearly “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.”
And most importantly, I cannot let fear overwhelm my heart and allow Satan to pull me from this commission.
2 Timothy 1:6-7
“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
So I wrote all of this in the hopes that maybe someone reading this can relate to these stories. Maybe you are feeling lost, and perhaps you’ve forgotten the power of God in all situations. When everything else is changing, look to the one being who never changes.
Until next time.
-Chessie
