Nepal. I frankly have no words for how wonderful you have been.
It’s 9:05 in the morning and I am currently sitting in a cardigan and socks with a blanket because it’s cold. COLD. And as much as I despise being cold in the states, I’m soaking it all up here because this should be the last time I feel this way for the next 8 months.
3 months down, 8 to go. Like, what? Time is flying and I am loving every minute of this journey.
Check back with me though when I’m crying through Christmas.
Africa was a joy to live in for two months but Asia, Asia holds my heart. And Nepal just confirmed that is so many ways. Kathmandu especially, I mean, could it get more beautiful? You can’t go anywhere without seeing a mountain. They call them “hills” here but we know what they really are.
This month in Nepal taught me some new basic things:
-
How to light a plastic match to light the burner in our tiny kitchen. It’s an art form now.
-
How to use earplugs. I have never worn them before, but when dogs bark and fight throughout the night, you would learn too.
-
How to walk across a busy street. Hold out your hand and direct that traffic.
-
How to use an immersion stick to heat up your water for your bucket shower; and not electrocute yourself. Another art form. And a heavenly piece of equipment. Heavenly.
-
How to find the cafe’s with the best wifi. And the best breakfast. Equally important.
But more than anything this month taught me how to grow in the faith I have in my heavenly Father.
When I Googled the word faith (what’s a dictionary?) I got this definition.
Faith: complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
Now I have always had faith in God. I have trusted in Him since I was little, having confidence in the cross that in His mercy and grace He became the ultimate sacrifice for my sins so I could be called His.
I have always had faith that He is with me, every step of the way through this crazy thing we call life, trusting that His ways are better than mine as we walk through the highs and the lows.
But one word in that definition caught my eye.
Complete.
What did dictionary Google have to say about that definition? I’m glad you asked.
Complete: entire, full. To the greatest extent or degree, total.
Well then. That takes things to a whole new level.
Faith in Christ doesn’t mean trusting in Him a decent amount, or having some confidence. It means trusting Him completely. Complete confidence. All in, no holds barred, full surrender, not one ounce of doubt, not 99.9% but the full 100.
Oof.
I’m not going to lie, that’s hard. My human self wants to have at least a little control in my every day life. But in trusting God fully, you instead surrender that all to Him for what He wants. That’s faith.
Can I do that?
Well yes actually, there are plenty of humans in Hebrews 11 that did just that.
Hebrews 11 is called the faith chapter in the Bible because the whole chapter talks about people who had faith in God. No holds barred kinda faith.
Moses, Joseph, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Rahab, Jacob. All with powerful stories because of the faith that they had in God. Go read it, it’s incredible. The author of Hebrews mentions how he doesn’t even have time to talk about so many others who also walked by faith. Those who endured suffering and persecution, who took part in amazing miracles all because of their faith in Christ. All because they gave Him control and trusted His plan over theirs.
And if you’re still kicking around the idea (like I was) that having complete faith in Jesus might be too difficult, the author opens Chapter 12 with a zinger.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith..” Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT
I’m going to break that down into what I think it’s saying. An MM version if you will.
“Hey! Um, did you read about all those amazing people back in chapter 11? That can be you. God is calling you to a life of faith, and all those stories, all those people, did you see what they did? That’s called trust. That’s complete faith. Knowing that God will come through. He will always show up. You just have to have full confidence in Him. So fun fact, you don’t have a single excuse. Sorry. Get rid of anything that is holding you back, any thoughts that think this isn’t possible. Doubts, concerns. That’s from the enemy. Lay those down. Focus on Jesus, who has incredible plans for you. Have faith in Him.
Sorry, I think my version was a little longer.
Also, side note, do you see how it says perfects? It doesn’t say that Christ has perfected your faith. It says He perfects it. It’s not done, it’s ongoing. So throw off the burden that you think you have to be perfect too. Having perfect, complete faith in Jesus is a process. It’s not easy, you’re going to have your moments when you revert back to trying to control a situation because you can’t trust in the bigger picture He has. That’s ok. It’s like falling off a horse. Get back up there. He’s not leaving you, He is walking with you as you learn to trust in Him completely. Listen to Him, He has good things to say. Have faith.
I have never met a more faith driven couple than our ministry hosts. Their hearts are for Nepal, so for our month here we were doing ministry all over the city. Now they always had a general idea of what we were going to do, but it was all really based on faith. Giving God the room He is to be allowed to move in the work He had for us. So that He received the glory that He always deserves.
It’s because of them that my faith in the Lord grew. Every day, they presented us with another opportunity to lay down my desires and to have faith in what God wanted us to do that day.
In faith we walked around Kathmandu, coating the city in prayer as we listened to to what God wanted us to hear about His people. We felt His presence knowing that He was still in control of such a dark place.
In faith we let God lead us to the precious slum children He wanted us to play with and shower His love on. I was able to step in that day and be the physical presence of His love for them.
In faith we drew pictures that we felt the Lord lay on our hearts and then went out searching for who He wanted us to give them to. I drew a little girl and handed that very girl and her joyful mother her picture that day.
In faith we went into the dance bars, knowing that God will give us His words as we spoke to the girls. Since then many of our squad mates have had other meetings with these girls to help rescue them from those horrible places.
In faith we went a full day without a single item on us and allowed God to be the provider He is. Transportation, food, money. Oh man did He showed up.
In faith we hiked up a mountain, not knowing who was going to allow us to stay with them for the night for free. We left the next day with two new friends who I know were as blessed as we were.
I could go on. This month stretched my faith, but it ultimately strengthened it. Was it easy? No. Am I done learning? No. But I now have a better understanding of what complete faith in my Savior is. It’s on going, it’s a process, but Jesus will continue walking with me, perfecting it as we go.
You can do it. Oh how He wants all of you!
But it’s a daily surrender. It’s waking up every morning going “Ok God, I’m committing this day to you and what You have planned alone. I’m giving you the control. Today is for Your glory.”
Listen. Step out in complete faith.
He’ll show up.
