On Tuesday I leave on an adventure to South Africa. this is the first international trip I have done since 1999, which was before Sept 11. To say I'm a lttle stressed is an understatement but the stress is not related to planes dropping out of the sky.
I've always believed that God orders our steps and God's plans for us have a way of unfolding, not according to our expectations, but according to His.
As I've become older, without even knowing it, I've become set in my ways, just a little bit comfortable with how I go about my daily life. So the stress is more about the challenge of adjustment than it is about the trip it's self.
Whilst in South Africa I will be staying with people I don't know, in unfamilar culture with unfamilar surroundings. I'll be having to get to know people and face all the fears that go along with baring your soul to strangers. coupled with this will be not being in my home with the family that accepts me warts and all, where I can be lazy and stupid or angry and forgiven.
What must life have been like for the apostles in acts, where they travelled untold distances and to places where they were rarely welcomed with open arms? We often assume it was the travel itself that was difficult, but I'm starting to see that there were incredible internal struggles going on as well, as they adjusted to the nomadic existence and lived a life away from a loving and secure home. How great their trust in God became as a result, how much deeper were Paul's words of love in his letters because of this lifestyle?
Here's me struggling to cope and yet I'll travel in luxury, be welcomed with love, be cared for by brothers in Christ.
Still I hope the depth of my soul increases and that God reaches inside of me and changes my heart as a result. When I get home my hope is; I will love and live differently and I will have an increased capacity to understand God's heart for the people of the world, the people He so desperately loves.
Have a great day
Richard
I've always believed that God orders our steps and God's plans for us have a way of unfolding, not according to our expectations, but according to His.
As I've become older, without even knowing it, I've become set in my ways, just a little bit comfortable with how I go about my daily life. So the stress is more about the challenge of adjustment than it is about the trip it's self.
Whilst in South Africa I will be staying with people I don't know, in unfamilar culture with unfamilar surroundings. I'll be having to get to know people and face all the fears that go along with baring your soul to strangers. coupled with this will be not being in my home with the family that accepts me warts and all, where I can be lazy and stupid or angry and forgiven.
What must life have been like for the apostles in acts, where they travelled untold distances and to places where they were rarely welcomed with open arms? We often assume it was the travel itself that was difficult, but I'm starting to see that there were incredible internal struggles going on as well, as they adjusted to the nomadic existence and lived a life away from a loving and secure home. How great their trust in God became as a result, how much deeper were Paul's words of love in his letters because of this lifestyle?
Here's me struggling to cope and yet I'll travel in luxury, be welcomed with love, be cared for by brothers in Christ.
Still I hope the depth of my soul increases and that God reaches inside of me and changes my heart as a result. When I get home my hope is; I will love and live differently and I will have an increased capacity to understand God's heart for the people of the world, the people He so desperately loves.
Have a great day
Richard
2 comments:
Hey! Hope your trip is fantastic, despite the nervousness. Have a blast!
Just be who you are and everyone will love you xx
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