i got home around 1 am on monday night and let myself have a good grieving cry to process some of this.
God spoke a profound word into my heart saying, "I am the same yesterday, today and forever."
He is the same in Kenya and Indiana
He is the same last week and this week
He is the same at my day job and my second job
He is the same in my strength and my weakness
He is the same in Kibera and at Blackhawk
i want to be there and not here
i want to see those kids and not my empty apartment
but more than anything i want to see God as I saw him last week in those kids faces, and the giraffe's spots.
I AM TRUSTING GOD to be the same teacher and guide and BIG God this week as He was in Kenya and I know that He promises to be exactly that.
during high school,i spent one summer in mexico. we were in a rural area where you could see millions of stars brighten the sky every night. someone made a profound realization that we can see (God) more clearly when we get out of the city (or our normal busy polluted routine). that is incredibly true in regard to short-term missions. God is the same but it can take stepping out of our normal routine and surroundings to see Him in new and big ways. He blesses us by seeing him in new ways through people and culture and babies and creation, and is faithful when we return back to the old routine with these glimpses of our great God.
Colossians 1: 15-20
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning , the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
2 comments:
Good one. I sort of forgot God was the same- like, that he is the same provider here as he was getting me through the day there- but it almost seems more noticeable there because I was looking for it. Obviously the difference is my awareness...
How heartwarming. God is still God. Whew!
Very articulate Stephanie. Alysia and I felt the same way when we came back from Tanzania last year. There is an electricity in Africa that in my opinion is indescribable; one that is raw, dangerous, big, and beautiful all at the same time. People are oftentimes happier with less and more joyous then most people I know in the states.
On another note, how did things seem there after all of the political mess and violence? What's the outlook of the people there? The missionaries? It's interesting because in many missions circles Kenya is considered "reached" and completely evangelized. It always shocks and surprises me though how the church from the outside seems to not be found when it comes to African ethnic and tribal violence.
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