The only reason the email wasn’t sent was because we were already in the air… Only hours and the vast expanse above the clouds made the difference…
Our oblivious and exhausted family stepped off the airplane, back home in Indonesia after six whirlwind weeks in America for Rachel’s wedding. Two days later we found out we narrowly missed being told to just stay home. God was in charge. We were back for a reason.
Suddenly what had previously made perfect sense was now confusingly, stressfully crooked. Life became really exciting as God made changes in our way of working in Indonesia. Over the next year my husband was given a huge job for which he felt totally unqualified.
“Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?” Ecclesiastes 7:13
Those last three years on the mission field were a wild and sometimes scary rollercoaster ride for our family. Our faith and commitment, our physical and emotional well-being, our marriage, and our vision for where our family fits into God’s plan were all challenged and refined.
One day, feeling overwhelmed and discouraged, I cried at my kitchen sink. I told God I could NOT go on any longer. I begged him to help me.
Fast-forward to a few days later…
I lay on the couch with a high fever and an all-over body rash. I had Chikungunya, a weird jungle virus that ended in terrible joint pain that lasted for four months. Now not only was I overwhelmed and discouraged, I was also in horrible pain.
That wasn’t quite what I was asking for, Lord!!
Having already been through painful learning adventure #1…
I was ready now for painful learning adventure #2 – God loves me so much that He will even use a weird, painful jungle virus to accomplish His good purposes in and through my life.
Through four months I prayed that God would help me not to miss the good lesson in the midst of the pain. I HAD to believe that there was a reason I was going through it and no way did I want that much pain and turmoil to be wasted.
It was beginning to hit me… I didn’t really know God the way that I thought I did. Beginning to see. Beginning to understand.
It is an astounding thing to begin to understand how deeply God loves us, His children, and desires for us to know Him. The Sovereign God of the Universe wants a relationship with us. It leaves me breathless. I hope it does you too!
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2–4
