The end of April has been a great time here in the KStan. There hasn’t been a day where Gods presence hasn’t been felt since being here, but lately its been a really good time for me to draw closer to God and to learn a lot about trusting, waiting, and letting Him fight for me.
A team from Salem came out recently to put on a retreat for the women here in Kstan. I was really excited to see them! I didn’t realize though how dry it is here until I saw them and I wanted to cry. It was like a huge wave of water coming to fill up our dusty and dry streams. I think most of it too was happiness to see a familiar face, and God knowing what that week held for me.
After we spent the morning they came together as a team doing introductions and time in prayer, we took a break for the afternoon. I went over to Scott and Katie’s and spent a couple hours talking with Katie. It was really good to unload some things I feel like God has been trying to teach me. Katie is so wise and was really encouraging. She challenged me with a few things for that week and I knew that I was going to go to a place with God that I hadn’t been to in a while.
A main thing I feel like God is trying to teach me is contentment. Before I got here, and even now, I have been wrestling with this idea of possibly living oversea’s the rest of my life, singleness, and trusting that God has the best in store for me. It amazes me how much I thought I was okay with whatever God threw at me, until He brought some of these things to my attention as possibilities. I had dreams of living in America, raising my family and living this idealist American Dream. But when I surrendered my whole life to Jesus, He is showing me that He has different plans for me.
Katie showed me Philippians 4:13 that says “I can do all things through him who gives me strength.” Great verse right? What I never considered before was the context of this verse. Paul is talking about how he has learned to be content whatever the circumstances. He said he knows what it is to be in need, and to know what it is to have plenty. He learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed, or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Then he says he can do all things through Him who gives him strength. This hit me hard that day when Katie showed me this verse. God is really trying to teach me contentment. But its not like he’s going to throw me into this hard, oversea’s, uncomfortable situation and not be there to strengthen me through it. Or, maybe He will send me home to live in America, but being content and living simply is a lot harder than it is oversea’s when your forced to live a simpler life. But he’ll give me the strength to do that. Or, maybe my desire to have a family of my own will be met in ways that I had never expected before. I could work in an orphanage and love on those kids who don’t know what love is because they are scared and alone. Or, be a nanny to a family and show the kids Jesus through loving and taking care of them. The possibilities are endless, and only God knows what my future holds. But I can take comfort in knowing that through learning to be content in all these situations, He will give me the strength I need!
I was very thankful for that Sunday afternoon with Katie, and the way God used her to speak to me.
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