Today has been an unexpected, relaxing day for me. I got to sleep in this morning. Candice and I got Thai messages and facials. Two hours for only $20. It was amazing! Candice left to spend time with a friend that was visiting and everyone else was already gone for the day, leaving me with some alone time. It was a much-needed blessing. In this country, we have been going, going, going everyday and you forget how precious slow time and alone time is!
I spent sometime reading and reflecting over the past month and I don’t really know what I feel. I feel sad, blessed, disgusted, proud, confused, annoyed, frustrated, empowered, wanting more, thankful, hurt, surprised, overloaded, and much more. I feel like this month has been information overload. We have been bombarded with statistics about prostitution, trafficking, etc. We have been told, read books and articles, and seen with our own eyes. It has been a blessing to be right in the action. That is one of the things that I love about the World Race, is that it puts you right in the action of some of our world’s greatest problems – AIDS, sex industry, poverty, etc. It has been hard though also to take it all in. It has been hard to see all the hurt, evil, and corruption in the world. It is hard to know that we can only make such a small indent in this problem, but it is comforting that we serve a BIG God that can handle it all and has a plan to save and redeem. I have been reading through Isaiah and have been stuck on Isaiah 25 when they are giving praise to the Lord.
Isaiah 25:1-9 says, ”
1 O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.
2 You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will honor you; cities of ruthless nations will revere you. 4 You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall
5 and like the heat of the desert. You silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled.
6 On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines.
7 On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations;
8 he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.
9 In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
Lord, thank you that you are faithful. That you that your plan is greater than anything we can imagine. Thank you that strong people and people of influence will honor you. Thank you that you are a refuge for the poor and needy in distress. That you are a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. That you are powerful enough to silence and still the ruthless. That you Lord have a feast prepared for ALL people. That you that you will destroy the evil, corruption, and bondages of ALL nations. Thank You are victorious and that you have won the battle against death! Thank you Lord that it is your plan to wipe away the tears from ALL faces, that you promise to remove the disgrace of people from ALL the Earth. I am thankful that I can say, “Surely this is m
y God, I trusted him and he saved me. This is the Lord, I trust in him and I choose to rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” Lord, I can’t wait to see the women sitting at your banquet and hearing them claim this truth because it is for them as well as for me. God may your presence be known in the midst of the darkness. Lord,
may you reign and shine in that place!
