I do realize that today is in fact Fat Tuesday and not the actual calendar day for Thanksgiving but today marks a day of thanksgiving here... not here, as in Haiti, but here, in my life... an impromptu ruling so to say.
"The temptation to be anxious is constantly with you, trying to worm its way into your mind. The best defense is continual communication with Me, richly seasoned with thanksgiving. Awareness of My presence fills your mind with light and peace, leaving no room for fear. This awareness lifts you up above your circumstances, enabling you to see your problems from my perspective." ~Sarah Young in Jesus Calling
The words in I Thessalonians 5 echo this and cover so much more ground, too:
*verses 16-18 say, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
Over the last 2 months, thankfulness has not been the most natural response for our family but we are choosing to follow the instructions above even when we don't feel like it. Some days we do better than other days. Each of us are handling leaving a little differently as time progresses but over and over we face the lingering, "this is not good", from people in the community.
Oftentimes, we are all tempted to get distracted by what we perceive as bad. The danger of such a perception is that it threatens to steal the good.
*verses 21-22 say, "...hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil."
Over and over I pray, 'Lord, protect us from temptations that pull at our emotions and even our physical needs right now. Protect us from the temptations that call out to our sense of what we deserve, what we have the 'right' to feel. You are the true source of all that is really life. Please direct our steps away from all that is not of you.' (inspired by Bruce Wilkinson)
*verse 24 says, "The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it."
L.B. Cowman reminds us in Streams in the Desert that faith is a necessity "but also of the patience required for faith's work to be perfected." He said, "May we fear attempting to remove ourselves from the hands of our heavenly Guide, or missing even one lesson of His loving discipline due to our discouragement or doubt."
We've experienced discouragement and doubt and even fear because common sense tells us that our current circumstances are not good. If we aren't careful, "common sense, covered with a layer of Christian emotion, becomes your guide." (~Utmost for His Highest) When we give into the feelings of doubt and fear, we switch guides and THAT is what is not good. Oswald Chambers goes on to say, "You may be more prosperous and successful from the world's perspective, and will have more leisure time, if you never acknowledge the call of God. But once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God asks of you will always be there to prod you on to do His will. You will no longer be able to work for Him on the basis of common sense."
I admit that we are proceeding without common sense but with hearts overflowing with thanksgiving.
Many days we greet and are greeted with tears and while "evil never surrenders its grasp without a tremendous fight," we are so thankful for the lives here that have changed ours.
This morning Kinley came running into our room and said, "Mama, there's a leaf in the floor and it has legs and eyes and it's moving..." Now, before you snicker at the what seems like a vivid imagination, see for yourself....
I knew immediately what she was talking about because we've had other such 'visitors' since we've been here...
...but I couldn't help but think about the quote by Phaedrus, "Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden."
While this cool little guy does look just like a leaf with legs and eyes, he is not a leaf that just so happens to have legs and eyes. The way God made him was not a coincidence and though we feel things could have been better orchestrated and handled differently, we know that our current circumstances are also not coincidental. I believe in spite of how heart wrenching this is for us and so many others, carefully hidden is a grand plan that only a Master such as our very personal God can bring about.
*verse 25 says, "Brothers [and sisters], pray for us."
I would love for you to do that... I mean really do that... call us each by name... John, Dawn, Cabila, Caleb, Kylie, and Kinley and also the families that we are reluctant to leave behind... and pray that we would all see the supernatural hand of our very real God in ways that we can barely comprehend. Pray that through each of us, God will take more ground for His kingdom in this generation and in this country that He has not forgotten. Pray for relationships that have been destroyed by the evil one and for eyes that can see the hand of the enemy and strength to stand against his schemes from this day forward.
"We never arrive at any spiritual inheritance through the enjoyment of a picnic but always through the fierce conflicts of the battlefield." ~Streams in the Desert
While many have sized up the perfect plan for our family we know that only God knows at this point what His perfect plan is and we know that "when you walk with the Lord you won't just see what's happening around you, He will tell you what to do about it" even if in the last hour. We don't have a 'go to' place right now and yes, our faith is stretched but growing. We don't know anything more at this point than we will be leaving Camp Coq as instructed but we will not be leaving Haiti until God orchestrates that.
Luke 21:15 states, "For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict."
I am encouraged today because ----- things are not always as they seem.
"By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,
that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name." ~Hebrews 13:15
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