Daddy Knows Best

The last few days have been a pivot point for me. Yesterday we drove 9 hours through the mountains of Romania and it produced some of the most spectacular scenery I have ever seen.  When you are surrounded by majestic mountains and stunning plains, its hard not to feel small and get a perspective adjustment.  Then today, we welcomed our three newest team members and introduced phase #3 of the trip and with it, a much anticipated change of pace. Both of these things have been a breath of fresh air to me and I am growing excited for the work we'll begin tomorrow. That, however, leads me to my newest lesson learned...
Sometimes when I'm in the middle of a task, be it at work, at church, or even on a missions trip, I get tunnel vision for what my hands are doing to the neglect of all the supporting factors of the work I'm completing. One of the things that I often neglect is looking to God for energy and sustaining life in the midst of my obedience. Unfortunately, I think I fell into the trap of independence the last few days of the trip but PRAISE GOD He forgives my ignorance.
During a prayer earlier this evening, one of our newest team members, Bonnie, prayed that God would give us strength as we stepped forward into our work this week. As soon as she prayed that, the Holy Spirit dropped truth into my soul, hitting me like a ton of bricks. Just that fast, my stubborn refusal to accept the help that God was offering looked as silly to me as it was to Him. I finally understood. Its like that moment when you realize that your parents were right about something; you feel dumb for not having seen it in the first place. What right did I have to try doing something for God without taking advantage of the tools He provided for the task? Believe me, now that I see my wrong, I am going to be chatting with God a lot more than I have been! A light bulb has gone on in my head and I don't want to waste any time. I want everything I do on this trip to be effective in spreading the truth and love of God. And that, my dear friends, won't happen if I try to do it on my own.
I'll be leaning a LOT more heavily on those Everlasting Arms that surround me from here on out. I can't wait to see how it changes the landscape of possibilities...

The Eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.
~Deuteronomy 33:27