The Challenging Path = Reliance on God Rather than Self

Three weeks.  In only three weeks I will be packing my bags to leave Florida.  My time here at Wycliffe Bible Translators(WBT) is quickly coming to a close.   It seems that each week is busier than the last and each week I feel like I am being challenged more in my walk with God. 

 Both God's Word and people here at WBT are challenging me.  For my internship I am working on research and writing and thankfully I am not doing this alone.  Another intern (Alisa) is working with me.  She has encouraged and challenged me in my writing skills and my spiritual life.  I am incredibly blessed to be working with her.   

Alisa

My mentor Janet is supportive and sensitive.  She notices when I am struggling and when I am joyous.  Every week we talk about what is going on in our lives, challenging  each other to learn from God in whatever circumstances He places us.  Nothing learned is ever wasted when placed in God's hands.  When we give Him full control of our lives we will see the blessings more than the trials. 

Janet is in the back row, third from the right 

Nancy, one of my prayer partners here at WBT, has shared her life experiences with me, helping me to see how God works things out according to His plan and not our own.  God knows our hearts.  He knows our deepest hurts and deepest longings.  In His timing He reveals how those things are important to our life. 

In the last two weeks God has also given me opportunities to experience His peace and majesty seen in creation.  For the Fourth of July weekend we did "Sunrise-Sunset".  This is when we watch the sun rise on an Atlantic beach and then drive back across the state to watch the sun set from the Gulf of Mexico.  I am including one picture from each. 

                             Sunrise

                                                                                           Sunset 

I also was able to take a pontoon ride on four of the many lakes in Florida.  We rode out into the middle of one lake, turned off the motor and just drifted as we ate our dinner.  It was so quiet and refreshing, just what was needed in the middle of a busy week. 

                           Me and Julie

                                                                 View from pontoon just before sunset

 A Bald Eagle flew over us during during dinner and for a moment I thought about the thrill that early explorers must have had when coming to this country.  Just as this great bird symbolizes freedom in America I thought about the freedom we have in Jesus Christ.  We are freed from the penalty of sin, which is death. 

What a great and Holy God we serve.   I pray that I would never forget the sacrifice that was made on my behalf that I may have the freedom to approach the throne of grace with confidence.   

Walking on the Water- A Shift in Focus

Peter; doubter, denier, disciple.  Do you ever have Peter days?  To be honest, there are times I doubt God's plan.  I don't trust him the way I should. I don't keep my eyes on Jesus.  There are days I am confronted with issues and challenges in conversation that should be biblically addressed, however I remain silent.  There are days I feel close to God, like his best friend. 

Last week was a Peter week. However, just as Jesus lifted Peter from the waves of doubt, forgave his denial and blessed him, God refreshed me.  

Last Saturday night all the interns and their mentors came together and had a painting party.  I would be the first to say that my preferred art form is drawing stick figures but God used the calmness and slow pace of painting to get me thinking. 

As I painted an African sunset I was reminded that even though our lives may look like they're out of control, God is ultimately in control of the situation and makes it into something beautiful.

The paint we see on the palette runs together and gets very messy. The paint is not in control, the painter is.  God is painting beautiful pictures of our life but we miss it when our focus is on the palette instead of God. 

We may never see the canvas until the painting is finished but when we look at God he tells us about each little thing that he is adding to our life and we can trust that the finished product is better than we can imagine.  

  

Below is the finished painting. Mungu Anatawala is Swahili for "God He rules".  God is ruler over all the earth and is control of everything. 

The next morning  a few of us went to the beach and had an individual time of devotions.  As I read through Scripture and thought about all that I had been learning that week I realized that I was allowing the business of life to take away from what God was trying to teach me.

God brought everything together with a thunderstorm.  As I sat on the beach a storm began rolling in over the coast.  Dark clouds, lightning  and thunder where visible in the distance, the wind picked up and the waves became stronger. 

However, blue sky and white clouds graced the sky.  The contrast was  quite obvious. We had to leave the beach but God allowed me to see how this was a picture of my life.  At first something was missing from the scene but God told me exactly what I needed to do.

"Be still and know that I am God.  I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth"  -  Psalm 46:10

The following song filled my heart as I walked away from a rough week  but moved on in God's grace.