These are the times that try men's faith.
Often people ask me 'is it cheaper to live in PNG?' The answer simply is 'yes'. It is not however cheaper to fly to or leave PNG. The pricetag for that is $10,000 for my family. It isn't cheaper to get gravely ill in PNG either.
But God transcends money. Money is a man made contrivance that doesn't really seem to phase God at all and yet puts man in definitely difficult situations.
This month has been a difficult month for some of our friends. As support staff we work to support the work of Bible Translation. To get that done you need Bible Translators. This young couple, friends of ours, my wife and I spend a lot of time praying for.
They've had a rough go of it for a long time now. They are newly assigned translators and so we have been supporting them and praying for them to make progress in their language group.
It seems like they've seen nothing but hardship since coming here and we pray desperately that they don't give up. But for years now, they've had major trouble after major trouble.
-Getting land-locked and separated by a huge mudslide
-Illness, fleas, inability to sleep
that was last month
this month it is the birth of their son, but then having visa problems so they couldn't get back to PNG, then their daughter got very sick and had to have a spinal tap....
and then all of this, the flights and the medical bills, they have no money to pay for all of it.
It all seems so desperate doesn't it?
Living this lifestyle means you have very few constants. Life is always in transition. That bugs a lot of Type A personalities who need to have a plan. Well you can make a plan but expect that plan to be dashed to pieces. It's hard on you to be always unsure of one day after the next.
But we do have one constant. One we know. GOD IS FAITHFUL.
Bad stuff happens, but GOD IS FAITHFUL.
Does that mean we always get the answer we want? No. BUT GOD IS FAITHFUL. GOD IS GOOD. GOD IS JUST. GOD IS LOVING.
Money and health (psychological and physical) are two things in constant flux around us. Sometimes we have more of it than at other times.
We live on the edge of faith. We depend on God to show up, otherwise we don't make it.
God shows up. He always has.
Living like this, I can see the Israelites and their behavior. How many times did they hear from God Himself, and yet continued to mess up?
And yet, we often have worry and doubt when it comes to financial and health issues. How many times has God provided for us? For our friends? For others around us?
Why do we worry then?
A problem presents itself, and our instinct is to find the solution. When we arrive at the fact that the only solution to be found lies outside of our control, then we doubt. We doubt if the solution will come. We doubt if it'll come the way we want it to.
Parents with kids who have driver's licenses understand this sense of loss-of-control.
It is out of your hands now.
But each time they return home unscathed, your confidence grows a little in their ability.
God has been so faithful to us that our confidence in the likelihood that He will not let us fall, is immense.
And yet, silly us, we tend to worry.
Today when I got this bill for the medivac my jaw dropped. I thought we had already seen the last of the bills. And I admit, I did think 'how are we going to pay this?' For a moment.
But a voice inside of me said loudly, 'He's never let you down.'
And He hasn't.
God is faithful.
This month I've heard of some friends who are gravely ill. Yet they glorify God and say 'He is good.' If you've ever asked yourself 'how can this person who is dying say that God is good?' Then I want for you to know how they could say that. It comes from a profound relationship with Christ. The kind of friendship where you know that friend has your back. Where that friend loves you despite all your failures. That friend knows you within and without, and constantly upholds you. You may be at your darkest and deepest and worst moments of your life, and they are there holding your hand. Should we hate this friend because they have the supernatural ability to remove the bad stuff from us? Or should we love this friend because even though the bad stuff comes, the really good stuff lies just around the corner, and there would be no good stuff, without Christ.
1 Cor 1:
4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
