Things I'm pondering

I'm not sure why but I have been a little uneasy about not hearing from our group in Haiti at all.  I remember last year that I had not expected to hear from them.  So, when we did, it was a pleasant surprise to know that they got to where they were going.  And I was doing okay...not that I don't have moments of being nervous or anxious.  I know that there are several others a little worried for their family members, so I felt compelled to share what I've read the last couple of mornings.  It brought me peace and encouragement, and I'm hoping it will do the same for others.

We all have heard the verses in Matthew 6 that talk of worry.  And the bottom line, is don't worry.  Easy peasy, right?  uh...no.  We know in our heads that worrying doesn't solve anything.  Worrying shows a lack of trust in God.  OUCH!  I realized the other morning when I was praying for our team in Haiti that I was so focused on their safety that I was only praying for their safety.  I wasn't praying about the work that God was ready to do.  I wasn't praying for the hearts of the people they would interact with.  I wasn't praying for patience and team work...I was praying for safety, and that's where my focus was. I decided right then that I was going to change that.  Then I read a verse...one that I've memorized and I love.  But I've always associated it to be talking about purity and doing "good."  It is Philippians 4:8, "Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.  Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."  I LOVE this verse!  I find joy in things that are true, and honorable and right and pure and lovely.. But yesterday when I read this familiar verse, I stopped at the first phrase..."Fix your thoughts on what is true."  What is true!  I have been fixing my thoughts on my feelings...on the concern of myself and others.  What is true?  The TRUTH is that there are 21 people that safely left Miami, FL on their way to Haiti to serve God.  The TRUTH is that they will be stretched and they will grow.  The TRUTH is that God will use them ways that we may not understand on this side of Heaven.  The TRUTH is they will communicate God's love to people in the physical labor, teaching of God's Word and general love that will be seen through every interaction.  And The TRUTH is that God has gone before them.  That was where God took me this morning.

There is a small phrase in John 10:1-4 that say, "he goes ahead of them."  Jesus goes ahead of us.  I found peace in that.  Even here, even now, Jesus has gone ahead of me, and in my "everyday" I FOLLOW Him!  God is not just looking down at us with either a smile or a frown, HE is engaged with us and intimately involved in the world and in our lives.  He is engaged in the details.  Thank you Jesus!

And, one of my all-time favorite verses, comes soon after these...it's John 10:10, "The their comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."  So, let us have it to the full....without the burden of worry, but instead with a peace and joy that we have a Savior who walks with us..in fact, He goes before us.  Praise the Lord!