Sunday, September 28, 2014

Faith Greater than Mine


       I was sitting on a trotro(large public 16 passenger vans) on my way to Accra when a man in the back asked the driver in His native tongue to turn down the radio.  I wasn’t sure why until he started preaching God’s word, and he preached it well.  He asked people to read certain bible verses and while glancing around, many people got out their bibles on their phones and took turn reading the verses.  I really couldn’t believe this situation but at the same time was so ecstatic that God would use this man to share the word.  I mean honestly when he started, I was freezing from spending two hours in the rain on the moto and didn’t want to hear another sermon about the prosperity gospel but instead he preached the truth that salvation is only through a personal relationship with Christ.  Preach it brother!   At the end of his talk he said that he wasn’t a preacher or an evangelist but just a follower of Christ who felt led to share the gospel with others.  After that he put away his bible, the driver turned up the volume, and the rest of the trip went on as normal.  Wow, this young man showed an incredible amount of faith to be willing to speak the truth of His Savior in a van full of strangers.  Would I be willing to do that?   I mean I always thought  I showed a good amount of faith with being willing to leave my family and move 6000 miles away to a foreign country with foreign languages and strangers.  But,  I had never asked God to give me the strength to preach in front of peers like this.  Why wasn’t I willing to do the same?  God is coming back someday soon and it is our responsibility as Christians to share His redemptive love with the lost world. So, I need to show enough courage and enough faith to allow God to use me in every type of settings.

      Which brings to another example of an enormous amount of faith.  One day I was checking my email when out of the blue I received a message from a man in my church.  He expressed His interest in helping provide transportation in order to visit schools and I immediately freaked out.  All I could think of was all the needs we had for the schools so there was no way that I could be asking for something personally when I was trying to provide for their needs.  So I did the most sensible and logical thing possible by writing to thank him but declining his offer.  I guess I should also explain that he wanted to purchase a moto and that just scared me to death knowing my track record with bikes.  Even my parents tried to explain to him the dangers of me having a two wheeled vehicle but this didn’t seem to deter him.  So in my attempt of doing the responsible thing,  I was limiting the work of God.  Of course God’s ways and thoughts are higher than mine and over the next few weeks He started to change my mind.

   I started seeing a lot of these new type of motos that look a little like scooters but have more power for longer trips.  In fact, one day I saw three pass in a row.  I eventually got the courage to ask a friend to help me test drive one and within hours of attempting to drive it on the road without injuring anyone, I was already writing email to this man with incredible faith to tell him that I had changed my mind.  Imagine his joy when my no turned into a definite yes.  Even before I even thought about this idea or would consent to it, God was working in the lives of others to give them the faith that I lacked.  A man who I hardly knew helped me see that God’s plans are not the same as my own and He will move mountains in our way for His glory. 

   Just the other day, I was visiting with two teachers in a town a half hour away.  They are married and have a baby girl but they teach at two separate schools which both have some difficulties.  They have been feeling pretty discouraged so it was really important to spend a few hours with them at their house.  Out of the blue they told me that they would pray to God to send me a moto.  I started to laugh and told them that God already heard their prayers as funds are being raised.  They were delighted of course but I asked them if it would look bad if I had this new moto but not the funds for other needs at the schools.  They told me that a moto was important so I could spend more time at each school and not have to spend as much money on taxi motos which would allow me to do other things.  Yes, another confirmation that this is the will of God.

    The lesson I continue to learn is to seek God and His plan will be accomplished.  Don’t be afraid to ask for the impossible because our God is the God who does the impossible.  He cares if we have means of transportation and He cares that we are sharing the gospel.  All things can be done for His glory if we are faithful enough to ask and to act upon the stirrings in our heart that God has given us.  I still don’t have the funds for other huge needs and I am not quite sure what will happen this year, but I have faith that God will act in whatever manner will give Him all the praise that He deserves. 

 

 

My Hair is Falling Out, Literally!


Some people receive ulcers and others form bad habits all from a five letter word called stress.  Stress is abundant in our lives from our fast paced schedules and desires to achieve.  Our stress is shown through our emotions and our actions.  However, were you aware that stress can be determined by your hair falling out?  In August, I started noticing an increase in the amount of hair found on my brush, in my hands while washing my head, and just around everywhere.  Luckily I have thick hair because for over a month now, it has continued to fall out in more abundance than normal.  In consulting a doctor, he told me it was a result of stress from maybe months ago that was finally working its way out. Although he assured me I wouldn’t go bald, it worried me that something had made me so stressed that my hair felt the need to abandon my head.  Hmmmm, what kind of stress have I experienced in the past few months?  Well, I packed up my life that I had lived for 9  months and went back to my beloved Togo where I went immediately to work teaching and preparing curriculum.  With this job, I experience a lot of unknowns and see a lot of needs which makes me rely heavily on the Lord’s help but I wouldn’t say that it ruins my life with stress.  The only major stressful week was when I received 2 serious marriage proposals from people I knew and our 10 year old neighbor died.  All this happened while I was trying to run a summer school program and a soccer camp. That might have done it. 

  As a Christian, I know to give my worries to the Lord; cast all my cares upon Him and He will give me comfort.  But yet we seem to get this mindset that is a right of passage to be stressed to the max.  We fill our lives with strenuous activities and choose to find them stressful and energy draining.  Why in the world do we do that? Why do I get worried and stressed out when I have 15 kids in my house and still need to finish writing curriculum?  Instead of allowing the stressful situation to bury me in a pile of worry and woes, I need to give it to the Lord and be thankful for the opportunity to work for Him and allow Him to work through the situation. 

Living a life stress free; wow, is that even possible?  Yes, definitely it is possible but only by focusing our eyes on Him, relinquishing the worries to Him, and offering thanksgiving to everything He brings our way.  So will my hair eventually stop falling out?  I sure hope it does but in the meanwhile,  I will just enjoy the ups and downs of life that God brings.