If being on the the World Race has taught me anything, it’s that I need to trust in Jesus. And I mean completely trust Him. My world is just too shaky to trust in myself or my own logic. And my logic usually seems to get me through just alright.
But when things like a 7.8 earthquake hit the exact place you were supposed to be going in just two days. Or four friends from your squad get in a terrible car accident and one of them is left in pain still two weeks later and still uncertain if she will ever walk again, you begin to question your own logic.
From a human viewpoint, how could any of this make sense? How could pain and suffering and trials and tragedy have a purpose at all? It doesn’t make sense. Not from my own, limited perspective at least.
But then God reminds me that he’s given me a better viewpoint than my earthly one, he’s given me an eternal perspective to stand on.
This is what that eternal perspective has given me a glimpse of:
1. There’s more going on behind the scenes than what I can see or understand and God has a plan even for the pain we go through.
2. God is not bounded by “logic” but is a God of miracles.
3. He can use pain as a way to bring us closer to Him and as a way to bring greater faith in us.
4. He is with us every moment of every day and promises to never leave us or forsake us.
5. We aren’t going to understand everything but only get glimpses of the bigger picture and we have to trust the rest to him.
6. He actually cares for people more than we ever could.
One of our squad mentors gave us a great analogy this weekend at debrief. She said that sometimes life is like being in a corn maze and the only thing we can see is the rows and rows of corn all around us. In the midst of it, we don’t think of the fact that from above, the dead ends and what seems like unending paths could actually create some sort of beautiful picture. From the ground, it just seems like chaos. But from above, it all makes sense.
It’s kind of like our own perspective versus eternal perspective. From my own perspective, the accident doesn’t make a lot of sense. The earthquake in Nepal is a tragedy and that is all. But God is taking me past my own logic and showing me a glimpse of His plan. He’s telling me to trust in Him and that through the tragedy, he is bringing redemption.
It’s not to say that what has happened isn’t a tragedy or hard. But it is to say that God is a good, good father who can redeem even the worst tragedies.
I think He wants to give us all that perspective. He wants to show us how he thinks and works. Even if we don’t understand everything that’s going on, we can find peace in the fact that God does and that he is there even in the trials and pain.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:9
Our squad heads to Nepal tomorrow, so if you could please be keeping us all in your prayers we would appreciate that so much.
Please pray for:
1. Guidance and strength for my squad as we enter into Nepal.
2. Unity among teams as we’ve had team changes during debrief.
3. Continued healing over Vanessa and everyone involved in the accident.
4. Our squad to have an eternal perspective on the trials we are going through.
