Lessons

This was the entry of my devotional book for the morning of the 8th:

Accept each day exactly as it comes to you. By that, I mean not only the circumstances of your day but also the condition of your body. Your assignment is to trust Me absolutely, resting in My sovereignty and faithfulness.

On some days, your circumstances and your physical condition feel out of balance: The demands on you seem far greater than your strength. Days like that present a choice between two alternatives – giving up or relying on Me. Even if you wrongly choose the first alternative, I will not reject you. You can turn to Me at any point, I will help you crawl out of the mire of discouragement. I will infuse My strength into you moment by moment, giving you all that you need for this day. Trust Me, by relying on My empowering Presence.

Psalm 42:5 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.”
II Corinthians 13:4 “For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.”

Jeremiah 31:25 “For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”


These are my thoughts from my personal Bible reading:

This morning I was reading about King David. In the passage that I was reading, David was not king yet. Saul was king and Samuel went to Saul and declared that the Lord has chosen another and Samuel said that he would not see Saul again. He kept his word and he did not go to Saul again. Samuel went in search of God’s chosen. He goes to the house of Jesse and inquires the Lord of each son for the next king. The Lord answers no so he asks if there are any more sons and Jesse says one. When David comes in Samuel knows that he is the chosen of the Lord. Samuel anoints David and the Bible says that at that moment the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. An evil spirit came upon Saul and he needed comforting. David was called upon to play the harp for him. At this point Saul was not aware that Samuel had anointed David. David on the other hand had full knowledge of what had occurred. He knew that he would be king. He didn’t know when that would take place but he knew that was the Lord’s plan for him. After receiving the knowledge of what God had for him things didn’t get easier. They got more difficult as time went on. Saul became jealous and angry toward David. He sought to kill him and tried when he got the chance. Saul’s son on the other hand had more integrity than Saul did. Jonathan loved David as a brother and sought to protect him every chance he could.

David is my favorite person to read about in the Bible. It wasn’t because he was perfect. If you read even a little about him you will realize that he was not without fault or sin. The Bible says that he was a man after God’s own heart. It wasn’t that he didn’t sin but that he was contrite about his sin. He may have enjoyed the pleasures of sin for a season but when he realized his sin and need for restoration with the Lord he repented readily. You see throughout the Psalms how in one psalm he praised God’s name and in the very next was seemingly in the depths of despair. He was real. He didn’t put on a front and try to be someone that he was not.

For years he lived with the knowledge that he would be king and I’m sure at times, especially when Saul was seeking his life, he questioned whether Samuel heard the Lord accurately. Even through the rough times God’s hand guided him and protected him.

As I’m in a foreign country and get discouraged at times I know that it is God’s hand that is leading me and protecting me. I may not be grandiose in appearance or manner of speech. I may not even be called to a position with admired authority. I am called to share God’s Word with children and adults who are seeking Him and some who don’t even realize that they are.

I see God’s hand daily in my life and the lives of my students. I wish I were expressive enough to write a word picture of what God has done so that anyone could visualize it and rejoice with me. I daily see him at work.

Since being in Kenya I feel like I’m a different person. I don’t mean that in a good way either. There’s a saying that when a tea bag is put into hot water its contents seep out. I’m dismayed by what I see in myself since being here. Attitudes that I never had in the States seem to be a daily struggle. I was very frustrated with being confronted with my sin face to face. In the States it’s easier to hide our sins even from ourselves. Life is easier back home. If I was tired I could pop something in the microwave. I could simply rinse fruits and veggies before eating them. Here I have to prepare every meal. I do not have a microwave at home. I have to soak fruits and veggies for 15-20 minutes before they are useable. Here I do not have the luxury of my own transportation yet. Things simply take longer here. Even grocery shopping is sometimes a fiasco. I hope never complain about Wal-Mart again. Through all these frustrations the Lord is teaching me valuable lessons. I have to die daily to myself and live daily to the Lord.

If someone had explained certain things about Kenya to me in the States I would not have understood. I read and got as much information as I could before arriving here. It was great but none of it prepared me fully. The thing most valuable to me here is my relationship with the Lord. He has never failed me in the past nor will He fail me in the future. He has been my constant for the last 10 ½ years. No matter what circumstances come my way or how my feelings change I know that He is with me wherever I go. He promises that He will never leave me nor forsake me. He’s growing me and although I’m not moldable at times I’m thankful for the hard times just as much as the easy ones. He is refining me with fire and I praise His name for it!