As I sit here in my office trying to do work I find my mind other places. Places that are unknown, unfamiliar, unaware, new, different, challenging, exciting, scary, and so much more. I can't help but feel like this very moment is the calm before the storm. In just an hour or so we will begin our approach into Cotonou, Benin. Once there we will dock and an hour and a half later we will find ourselves in the middle of a welcoming ceremony that is suggested to last up to 4 hours. After that the crazy storm will begin. The next few weeks will be filled with unpacking, setting up, and settling in.
This morning I was sitting on my bed reading my Bible and drinking a cup of coffee trying to gather and sort through my thoughts, emotions, nerves, and excitement for this upcoming day.
In the next room my roommate Carmen was doing the same. I heard her call my name and as I went in to see what she wanted she smiled and said read this, it is my devotional reading for the day Mark 6:53-56:
53When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.
Amazed, I returned to my room and finished reading my devotion for the day Isaiah 40, which I have read many times before, but today it comforted me in a way I had never experienced before:
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
I find God so complex yet so simple at times and I love to be surprised each new day with how it is He chooses to reveal himself to us.
Pray that the people of Benin see Jesus through us and pray that our strength will not be dependant on our own strength but on the strength of the only one who is everlasting. The only one who NEVER grow tired or weary.
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1 comment:
That's awesome Jess. It's amazing how God works... the passage from Mark 6 is pretty special. All the best for you as you go out and make a difference in people's lives. Wish I was there. Praying for you guys, Murray :-)
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