The Book of Job begins with Satan talking to The Lord about Job’s faithfulness. The conversation leads to the Lord allowing Satan to test Job to prove Job’s faith will remain steadfast. He endures trial after trial, receives ill-advice from his so-called friends, and questions God many a time. His story reminds me of the movie Pursuit of Happyness— they are both exhausting because neither Will Smith nor Job are “happy” until the very end. If you haven’t read the book, I would highly recommend it. But spoiler alert… God talks to Job after 42 chapters and reminds him of His power. Job asks for forgiveness for his questioning, and the Lord in all His mercy accepts the apology. And, get this, He blesses Job with twice as much as he had before! Our God is a god of happy endings.
Redemption: Retrieval, Repossession, Recovery, Reclamation.
Some of this journey for me has felt like a desert. I have been in survival mode with prayers for the Lord to help me make it through the day without losing my mind. I have missed friends and family so bad it hurts. I have had difficulties in relationships with other World Racers that exhausted me emotionally. I am exhausted physically because traveling for 10 months can result in nothing less. But lately, I have felt a promise from the Lord whispering to me that He is redeeming me.
He told me to read Job, which has always been a tough one for me to get through, but I am sure happy I listened. As I read, I connected so much with Job. I felt like I was obedient to the Lord in coming here, and I have no idea what I did wrong to endure suffering along the way. But he didn’t forget Job, and he hasn’t forgotten me.
Psalm 126 says “He who goes out weeping bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”
I have held special needs children who are neglected in their understaffed children’s home in Bulgaria. I have sat in a widow’s house in Albania and shared about the God of Hope. I have prayed with an 18 year old girl bound to her wheelchair in Romania. I have Skyped an Iranian man’s family to tell them he made it safely to Greece. I have taught children songs about Jesus in Zambia. I have listened to a South African woman’s story who was raped and shared with her how Jesus makes us new. I have held malnourished babies in Swaziland and prayed over them. I shared my testimony with a Colombian teenager who was brought to tears because they were the words she needed to hear. I have shared hugs, smiles, and water filters with Ecuadorian earthquake victims. I have invited a man I met in a park to our church in Peru who decided to accept Jesus as his savior.
As I sat on the roof of our preschool in Peru, I looked up at the starry sky and had this revelation:
No matter how discouraged my heart has felt at times, I know I have been obedient to God. I know that he has used me to do things for His kingdom. And I know it is almost time for me to “Come home with shouts of joy bringing sheaves with me”. I was reminded that My Redeemer LIVES. While I would love to already be on the “blessed twofold” side of things, I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel of obedience. He is continually in the process of redeeming my weary heart and tired feet.
I am sure that Paul would stand right alongside me in saying the missionary life is not always fun. It is not always easy. There are times you are broken and times you shed tears. There are times you long for the comforts of home and the people that you call your own. But it is absolutely worth it. I serve a God who does not leave you alone on a mountain. He takes you over logs, through ravines, around the obstacles, up to breathtaking heights. And He brings you safely down the other side.
When we look inquisitively at the intimidating path we are on or look back to the treacherous obstacles we have walked through, we must remember there is One who wants to retrieve us from pits of despair. Who wants us back in His possession. Who wants to recover our wandering souls and reclaim His ownership. We have been REDEEMED.
The price has been paid. The battle was already won. Nothing can change that.
The Lord never stops redeeming us.
