Thailand Update

        For man to know himself, he must first know his Creator.  The human experience is fleeting and fluid, ever changing in our enjoyment and perception of it, but God is absolute and a solid foundation to our flimsiness.  Truth remains absolute.  God’s Word is truth.  We are the relative ones, wavering in our understanding and devotion.  But even if everything fades and everyone is unfaithful, God is faithful.

Before we can be convinced of our purpose in life, we must be certain of our life in Christ.  But there are indeed many things that would steal our attention away from this foundational truth.  “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (Jesus, John 10:10).  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17).

And for me, before I can be convinced of my purpose in my work, I must be certain of the purpose and power in which God performs His work.  This was made evident to me while in Thailand because before God revealed anything to me about what I might do in the future, He revealed to me the power with which He works in the present.  I was part of a project and purpose much more pressing than my own desires and concerns for my future.  My attention was, by God’s grace, diverted from myself.  By God working in this way, He opened my heart to experience and understand finally that God will accomplish His will.  God will accomplish His will.  His purposes will not be thwarted.  That is the truth we can stand on, and we relate to it by our experience with God and His work.

Before

After

It was a rainy day in northwestern Thailand.  That’s no surprise because it was mid-September and during the swell of the rainy season.  We had traveled there to work alongside volunteers and the Karen people.  Their mission is to build a jungle hospital inside Burma to provide relief for the villages and peoples being terrorized and attacked by the Burmese Army.  This hospital needs to be bullet proof, inexpensive, and able to be constructed with local materials and lightweight things that can be carried discreetly across the border.  Special training is needed so that the building is constructed properly and remains strong.  It was the second day of training and the rain was coming down so hard that the progress had come to a halt and the work was actually becoming undone.  What do you do when it’s the rainy season in Thailand and you can’t finish the building if the rain won’t stop?  You pray and watch God work.

First two people stepped aside from the work to begin praying about the rain.  For a moment it seemed that the downpour relented a bit.  Then a few more people joined in the prayers.  Within seconds the rain began to cease and before long it was gone.  It didn’t return until over a week later, after the project had been completed!  The sun came out and the work continued.  The next day it was so sunny and so hot that working a 12 hour day seemed too difficult to do.  Heat exhaustion was in the near future.  But the work progressed with enthusiasm because we were so thrilled that God had held back the rain.  Confident that God desired for this building to be built, some of us prayed for cloud cover and a breeze so we’d be more comfortable!  Admittedly, those prayers were slightly humorous, but nevertheless God answered them.  For the majority of the project we worked in either reasonable heat or with a breeze and cloud cover!

The work was progressing well, but things were taking longer than we had planned for.  It seemed that the project wouldn’t get done in time.  Our team decided to stay and work extra two days and take a day to rest on the Sabbath.  On that Sabbath day we enjoyed worship and prayer with our Karen family and then were blessed to take an incredible trip up the river that separates Burma and Thailand.  We visited a refugee camp just inside Burma and were able to see the people we were working for.  They are the friends and families of many of the medics and volunteers who work with Free Burma Rangers and live sacrificially.  Their enduring spirit and sacrifice provides a light to thousands of people who live under the constant threat of danger and death.  To me, it was a light that shone to the darkness of my own heart and devotion.  It is a light that humbles me in the Lord’s presence.

God provided for the work to be completed and the people worked, so it was completed.  The project really came together those extra two days that we stayed.  Not only that, but if we had gone back to Chiang Mai when we originally planned, we would have arrived in a city covered with a few feet of flood waters.  By the time we actually arrived in Chiang Mai most of the flooding had subsided.  The day after we left the project site, having completed the work, it rained and the bridge we used to leave was washed out.  

God will accomplish His will.  His purposes will not be thwarted.  We are the instruments of His work and we need to keep seeking Him, take time to listen, and be flexible to change as His Spirit leads us to the places we never thought we’d go.  Things are better in those places because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

I find comfort knowing that God’s plan for my life isn’t something I have to have figured out from start to finish.  It’s something that’s uncovered step by step, and only by continually looking toward Him.  “For your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”  I’m in awe of where the Lord has led me thus far - it’s totally His doing because I couldn’t think up some of this stuff!  Keep the faith.  Stay faithful to the present, confident in the future.