This blog happened after a pretty traumatic event that I experienced while in Malawi that I will share at some point, but what a good reminder this is even today.
^^^
God has been doing some amazing things in my life. Africa has been an absolutely joyful experience. Seeing paralyzed little girls standing for the first time after praying for them, worshipping with only voices, clapping, and sometimes drums, seeing God provide money to purchase Bibles for native people, and seeing the Holy Spirit move in peoples lives are but a few examples of the way the Lord worked this month. Our contacts were amazing examples of Christ-like passion and love. Being so real and down-to-earth, joyful and always ready to joke and laugh and yet fervently dedicated to persistent prayer.
I was pushed to grow in so many ways. Continuing learning to always choose joy even among tragedy and confusion, just as a people who live for days at a time without electricity or water with torrential rains beating their homes into the ground. To work towards a peace in Christ about every worry or question in this sinful world. Growing in maturity as an adult and as a man who is taking responsibility for my actions and for my spiritual life, knowing that in order to grow I must choose to sacrifice my time, energy, and selfish desires in order to receive more of Christ in my life. Becoming bold and confident in prayer, as the disciples had ‘chutzpah’ in their prayer, which becomes so much more comfortable when you are around individuals proclaiming in the name of Jesus Christ that His kingdom is brought. Resting patiently when schedules fail or individuals show up late for church or whatever else, which manifested itself consistently in African culture and yet having hosts that did not fret or worry, knowing that the will of Christ will be done regardless. Overall, simply learning to rely on Christ for all of these things, for the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Yet in all my growth, I am becoming more convinced of the many little things I believe the devil does in trying to distract us from the Lord and the joy we have in life because of the Lord. What drives me to frustration or anger is when little things constantly bombard me and when things do not work as intended or without reason, I just become overwhelmed and pushed to the brink, and this has been exactly the case of late.
Nearly every piece of technology I have brought with me has either broken or begun to malfunction. Hours spent writing and editing topics of importance or concern that have been deeply dwelled on, for them to be gone without any trace or reason for their disappearance. Revelations I have received and new information I have discovered and begun to understand, which I was excited to think through and share with others was taken from me. I wrote a blog about ‘The Fear of the Lord’ and also a few long sincere emails and they were all somehow deleted.
Thoughts about the future, whether of jobs, living situations, or relationships plague my mind and cause anxiety and worry. The lack of knowledge of what I will do after the race is over causes me to want to plan and stress out as if the Lord does not have everything under control. Allowing little bits of news and changes back home affect me in a way that causes me to begin to forget about the present and dwell in the uncertainties of the future.
Letting differences in personalities or preferences among team members cause conflict that is not resolved and festers in unhealthy ways. Not accepting everyone as they are and letting Christ work to bring people to a higher place in Him.
From even when I was trying to write this blog after having my long blog on the fear of the Lord deleted for no apparent reason, some foreign substance that looked and smelled of excrement fell from the sky onto me.
Our growth, joy, peace, happiness in the Lord and what he is doing in and through us, if held onto as if achieved by any means other than as a gift and blessing from the Lord will be fleeting and easily stagnated. The Bible saying that EVERY good thing is from the Lord is not a hypothetical! It is a promise and truth we can hold onto in the good and the bad, knowing that nothing can take that away from us. I, we, must hold true to that fact and not let problems or hindrances distract us from what God is doing and sharing those experiences and his great love with the entire world. We must choose to rejoice always, to pray continually, and to give thanks in any situation. Trusting that the devil has no power over us, for we are no longer part of this world but rather apart of the kingdom of God.