Well as you all are aware, Bolivia was a tough month for me and my team. Lots of hardships came at us on the field and I had a handful from back home. While Bolivia was difficult, it was also beautiful. There were adventures I got to go on that only happened because the Lord had more for me to partake in. One week, we hiked two days into a remote village so me and some of my team could preach and pray for the Mojos village. There are only 17 families in that village and it was an amazing experience to encourage them. My hike ended up feeling like my entire month; every step took me further into the hardship and every step took me further into the beauty of the wild. And even when I got to Mojos, things still didn’t look like I thought they would. I figured that after hiking 30 ish miles to reach the people of Mojos that the Holy Spirit would show up in such a tangible way that by the end of the night all 17 families would be joining us in singing Kumbaya in the center of the village. Instead everyone shied away because they don’t get very many visitors in Mojos and only a few of them spoke Spanish because in Mojos the native language is Ketchum.
Sometimes things are hard and even when you press through and do the tough thing, God might not show up how you think He should. It’s in these times that we get to ask ourselves the real questions about the character of God. In fact, we’re shown how to do this in Psalm 42:11.
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
I personally recommend asking this question in a good coffee shop with a quality baked good nearby. Which is exactly what I was doing here. The barista who took this photo might or might not have thought I was a coffee blogger when I told him about the World Race. Sometimes the language barrier makes you seem cooler. ANYWAY.
The first part of this psalm asks a pretty big question. “Why are you cast down O my soul?”
What’s the real thing that’s hard that you haven’t put words on?
What’s making you run to the path of least resistance?
What’s going on that’s making that brownie/drink/person look like the answer to the pain you’re feeling?
I’ve been taught to make lists of the hard things and put those before the Lord. Invite Him to go where the difficult parts are.
God doesn’t shy away from our tough questions and hard things. And what I love about this psalm is it shows me what to do with my list of hard things. I hope in God again. I tell my soul where my salvation is. That’s how I learn to see the beauty on the trail I’m walking on even when it gets hard.
