Challenged and Inspired

We had a pretty rocky weekend...one that was jump started with a phone call.  LifeBridge Church is ending their support of our job here in Haiti.  With the news, we were floored but God was not.  

As our hearts still flip with emotions and our minds race with questions, we land at this...the work God called us to do here in Haiti is not finished.  The dream He planted in our hearts is not dead.   

It is no coincidence that we have been flooded with scriptures the last month that put this all in perspective.  We will continue to praise God just as the army in battle did at the command of King Jehoshaphat.  Our very personal Savior knew we would need to fall back on the story in 2 Chronicles 20 when I blogged about it last February.  (Praising) 

Although hurt, we are full of hope.  

"Blessed is he whose help is in the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the maker of heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them-the Lord, who remains faithful forever." Psalm 146:5

The last couple of years of faith building have not been in vain.  

"When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, my brothers don't resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends!  Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance." James 1:2-4

We have such comfort in knowing that it is God who has been in charge all along and it is God who is constantly preparing our hearts for what is next.  We have no doubt that this is all part of a plan for good. 

"This is what God says, the God who builds a road right through the ocean, who carves a path through pounding waves...  'Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history.  Be alert, be present.  I'm about to do something brand-new.  It's bursting out!  Don't you see it?  There it is!  I'm making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.  Wild animals will say, 'thank you!'...because I provided water in the desert, rivers through the sun-baked earth, drinking water for the people I chose, the people I made especially for myself, a people custom-made to praise me." Isaiah 43:16-21

We praise God that so many of you have followed the promptings of the Holy Spirit and sent us messages of encouragement the past several days.  We welcome your contact!  The last thing we need is more isolation over these thousands of miles. As we face many mountains, we need your encouragement and your prayers right now.  As we tire, we need to be lifted up by you, our family in Christ. 

Our children are experiencing the faithfulness of God in a way I cannot even describe.  I am so moved by their honesty and yet also by their incredible level of trust!  It really is an honor to sit with them and explain that while their Daddy and I will always do what we can for them that God designed us to be dependent on Him every day that we live, not just every now and then.  They are seeing that some times when the world says hurry up and do something, our Father says 'Be Still' and take note of what I AM doing.   

We feel certain that God is our Protector.  He is our Refuge.  He is our Strength...and even more so now than He's ever been before.  We know there is no limit to what He can accomplish through this.  We know that the work we have been a part of here has never been based on our own talents and strength but instead on His and His alone.  He doesn't need us to make sure His work is carried out here in Haiti but He chose us.  

We received some advice before we ever moved to Haiti from some Missionary friends in Mississippi.  They said, "Do what you are capable of doing and trust God to do the rest.  Your call will sustain you through the ups and downs." I'm so grateful I jotted down what they said almost 2 years ago because in light of the current matter and even in future matters, it is still great advice!    

We are both challenged and inspired by Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 4...
"Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.

If our Message is obscure to anyone, it’s not because we’re holding back in any way. No, it’s because other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won’t have to bother believing a Truth they can’t see. They’re stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get.

Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.

If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!

We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever."

We know that just as sure as God called us to join Him in this work here, He will sustain us.  We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted by the things of this world, but our focus must be on the things of heaven.  Therefore, as we strive to stay true to this calling, we thank you so much for your prayers in this regard.