Here I am in Africa…still soaking in all the amazing things God did in China. I am still learning and growing from China, and as I sit here in the internet cafe in Swaziland, Africa, I wonder if I am ready for these upcoming months here. Even as I type out that thought, I am reminded that I haven’t been ready for any of this for the past six months, but God is faithful. My lack of “readiness”, my fears, my hesitations, culture shock, etc….have all been used by God to blow me away and show me how powerful and strong He is.
In my weakness, He is strong.
I am reminded of certain times in life I have felt unready. The first day of high school, dating, moving into the dorms my freshman year of college, teaching high school students…the list goes on. I am realizing that life happens, life moves on, and weather I am “ready” or not, God knows what He is doing and I just need to move with Him. It all comes down to this little word trust. He is showing me how to follow Him and trust Him in ways I never have. I am seeing the ways I used to live in fear, try to control my life, and just trust Him with certain areas of my life. I mentioned in a previous blog about hearing the question over and over from God, “Do you trust me?” It’s a moment by moment choice. And the past few weeks, God is helping me to make that choice and let His peace fill me. Through this, I am seeing how much of His peace and grace I have refused in the past due to my lack of trust and my desire to live my life on my own. I am so thankful He is teaching me this and showing me how to let go. As I was discussing this with someone the other day, he compared it to the feeling you get when you are holding a heavy suitcase for a long time and you need to let go, but you cannot feel your fingers anymore and you need to use your other hand to pry your stuck hand off the suitcase. That is where I am at in my life right now. I am letting go, and God is taking my stuck hand off my luggage. Thank you Lord, for carrying it for me. Life is so much better like this. Your yoke is easy and your burden is light.
A few pictures from the past couple weeks…
