Stirred By The Scriptures

Today has found me thinking about a simple but powerful thought - God is good. I am sure many of us would readily agree and yet there are times when that fundamental truth gets called into question. For me the times when it becomes hardest to hang on to is when the answer to my prayer is wait. It is in those times of waiting that I can wonder if God cares or if he is listening. “Lord help me to believe you are good.”

My recent trip to Ethiopia has taught me many thing not the least of which the continual need to be a learner. So often we in America think we have so much to teach the rest of the world, especially those countries we refer to as third world. My time in Ethiopia reminded me again that they have much to teach me. First is that prayer is their first option. For me it seldom comes in first and rarely even second. Here is a simple example - when we finished traveling my first impulse was to get out of the van, After all I have a large frame, with long legs that need to be stretched. While I am stretching the Ethiopian believers are in the van praying and thanking God for safety.

Second lesson learned is that joy comes in spite of circumstances, not because of them. For me it goes like this “I will be joyfully if ...” For them it is “I will be joyful, no matter what, because of who Jesus is to me.”

Please don’t think that believers there have reached perfection or don’t struggle with issues of sin - they do. It is just that we have much to learn from them.

“Above all else guard your heart..” - Wise words from the Book of Proverbs that still ring true. So many (truthfully all) of my choices and values flow out of my heart. I know that I am guilty of ignoring what is stirring there and just trying to make my behaviors line up, which is a huge mistake.

Health care is a hotly debated question in this country. If you want to get people fired up just land solidly on one side or the other. Flying back from Ethiopia my mind went to the lack of adequate health facilities I had just seen. An understaffed and under equipped clinic that is the only source of medical help in an 1 1/2 hour radius. Meanwhile we have spent $100’s of millions of dollars in the past few month on this issue here in our country! I couldn’t help but think how those resources could have been put to use by people who would just like health care period.