Saddle Up

As I have been preparing to leave on this trip, it seems that God has had to do a lot of maintenance in me. This work, of course, is still in progress but I would like to preface the prayer requests listed over in the right hand column.

Recently it has come to my attention that over the last few weeks or so, I have really struggled to have patience and keep perspective when little things don't go my way or when little things frustrate me and get on my nerves. A huge reality check arrived after hearing a non-Christian with whom I was working say, "I guess we just needed to be a little more patient." Kind of made me want to go hide under a nearby rock. All this to say that if I'm expecting not to face frustrating situations in a country with a fraction of the wealth and conveniences that I'm used to here, I'm completely fooling myself. I need to have tougher skin. In addition, though, God has helped me to realize before I go that Satan is sure to capitalize on any weakness we show which is brought about by the environment in which we live. Being in Africa for an extended period might bring about lonesomeness, culture shock, or homesickness, all of which could make me extremely vulnerable to temptations of the enemy. This is why I'm asking for prayer that I and the whole team would be well prepared for challenges that we're sure to face.

The other request has a bit of a lengthy story behind it to which I won't go into detail here. Suffice it to say that I have grown up in a culture of comfort and security (neither of which are inherently evil but both of which have the propensity to cause use to believe that we are autonomous). My culture has trained me to hedge myself from any foreseeable risk or danger. This may not be such a bad thing either, but doesn't it sort of built independence from God? God is looking for faith (Heb 11:6) and I believe sometimes God asks us to take risks that defy logic so as to activate our faith and prove himself to be powerful and one on which we can depend. I'm not advocating for taking unnecessary risks, but it is my prayer that I can be obedient to the Lord, regardless of the cost or of how much sense it makes at any given time.