Last month in Nepal was a hard month for me. When I left for the race, the one thing I told God I was not okay with was getting lice…. And well, I GOT LICE.
We had to cross over 14 rivers to get to the village where we were going to be helping build a school. The night before we left I became very sick. So sick I was weak to the point of falling face down in the water, barely being able to pick my pack and myself out of the water.
I would remain sick for the next 10 days without any lice medicine (having only my team to pick the lice out). Some days I just couldn’t do anything but feel helpless. Having to let others help me was a humbling experience for me. My team “daughters of the king” and team “all things” we were with prayed over me and laid there hands over me one night by the fire and they would continue to pray for me the whole time we were in the village.
But God didn’t heal me out there in the village.
I asked God the question of WHY he wouldn’t heal me immediately out there?
I realized that the answer to that rests in Gods Sovereignty. He wanted to teach me something.
One night in my tent I was reading the Corinthians and when I came across
2 Corinthians 12: 8-9 right then I knew what Jesus was trying to tell me.
Paul was begging Jesus
“ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness”. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
Wow. He was asking me to cling to him through my weakness. He wanted me to see Him, to look to him for ALL things. To cling to him in my sickness and my lice. What was he trying to show me?
Seeing the way the people lived in the village made me press on through the days. It made my sickness feel less important.
I have never seen people more thankful and so in tune to Jesus. These people have NOTHING. They walk miles just to get food, they bathe daily in the river, and they have no running water. They wake up and just live everyday for the day in front of them. And they are happy.
The children run around with constant smiles on their faces. They are grateful for the little things. They play with empty buckets. If you give them a piece of candy its like Christmas to them. Joy surrounds them.
God really taught me in Nepal to let go of control in my life and just live for today, to cling to him in all I do.
But….
Why are we not content with our daily lives?
Why are we always living for the future?
Why do we take the little things for granted?
1 Timothy 6:6-7 say’s:
“But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. “
The people of the village were content with their simple life. Having each other meant having everything. Having Jesus meant having everything.
Going through 5 months of this race, selling most of everything I owned before I left, I thought I was doing what he called me to do. But he wants more. He wants it all. Even control in the little things.
When I returned to Kathmandu I went to the hospital where they tried to admit me with gastroenteritis, a blood pressure of 80/55 and being dehydrated. I received days of IV fluids and I was able to lice shampoo the remainder of the lice out.
I am so much better now and I am grateful for the experience In Nepal, even my sickness.
Do not take the little things in your life for granted. Appreciate everyday for what it is. In all things be thankful and walk in joy even in the hard times, the sick times, and the times you feel there is no hope.
What is God trying to show you today?
Give it up… I promise it will be worth it. There really is a peace that surpasses all understanding.
“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Matthew 6:34
“Fantasizing about future happiness will never bring fulfillment, because fantasy is not reality”
“Suffering isn’t the enemy of life, it often becomes the fuel to living life more fully”
WE CAN’T EXPECT GOD’S WILL – IF WE ARE NOT WILLING TO BE ABOUT GOD’S WAYS. 🙂
Love and Blessings,
Sarah Nelson
