A New Thing

But now, this is what The Lord says, He Who created you, Jacob, He Who formed you, Israel; "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Isaiah 43:1-2

Last week was tough...problems with the water, electricity, people...just tough. However, it wasn't anything that I hadn't dealt with before. We've had water problems before. We've lost electricy before. I've had problems with people before. But this week was different, all of these TIA...this is Africa...things were magnified, and I couldn't figure out why.

New Hope was here! Things should have been great. New Hope is the church that I came to Ten Thousand Homes with the first time four years ago. New Hope is family and yet...

...and yet...I was feeling left out. I was feeling insecure about what God has called me to. Honestly, I felt like God had left me to drown. I felt as though I was getting swept away. I felt as if I was getting burned. You know what had happened? FEAR! Fear had crept in and I didn't even notice. Don't kid yourself...fear is subtle. Fear comes in all kinds of little whispers, and, instead of pulling down the imaginations (2 Corinthians 10:5) that were growing in my head, I was having a conversation with fear! 

How many of you have kids? Do you remember trying to get them down for a nap and they just didn't want to? Did you speak these words...they're afriad they're going to miss something...over them? I'm coming to realize that, even as adults, we're afraid we're going to miss something. We're afraid someone may talk about us, we'll be left out, or worse, forgotten. God showed me this weekend that these are the very fears that an orphan feels. This is the very place that I had allowed fear to take me!  How can I minister to the orphan if I carry the same fears?! 

Time to stop having a conversation with fear. Time to stop focusing on what I might miss. Time to get my focus back on Jesus! Time to realize that He, the King, has summoned me by name! To be summoned by the King, means that I can walk boldly into His Presence because I am supposed to be there. I have been summoned by the King to South Africa! 

                                                         Fast forward to Saturday...

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19-20

I was blessed by my daddy, to be able to take a personal retreat this weekend. Many of you know me to be a person who loves being with people. I am still that person, however, this week, I felt peopled out. I needed some Jesus time and I didn't want to be around anybody! Thing is, though, that I can't sit still and hear Jesus. This used to bother me, until I realized that He created me this way! So, I took off on Saturday morning with Isaiah 43 running through my head. As I drove through Kruger Park, God began speaking to me. He told me that He was doing a new thing. 

I thought that moving to South Africa was a new thing! Saturday I realized that God likes to do a "new thing" in the middle of the "new thing!" New things are uncomfortable. Being involved in a new thing is tough. Things may not be done the way they've always been done. You may have to do something you don't really like for a while. New things require us to lay down the old and move into the new. Laying down our way of doing it. Laying down being in every meeting. Laying down feeling left out. Laying down...well...this takes faith and trust! The kind of faith that says, "Ok, God. I'm laying this down and I'm going to lean into the new thing you have for me. I'm nervous and full of questions, but I'm going for it." New things require trust. I wasn't quite at the trust part...yet!

                    Fast forword to Monday morning Community Development meeting...

The question of the day was...why are you here and how can you do the "why" better this week? The very answer that I gave was the very thing that I had been having a conversation with fear about. I came here because I wanted to minister to children and young women. Guess what?! The role that I am taking on is exactly that! I will be discipling the women at both after school programs that we are a part of. It's a new role, full of unknowns and changes for everyone involved. There are other aspects of the role that we are working on that I can't share here, however, they are good...new...things! 

How can I do the "why" better this week? First thing is to stop having a conversation with fear. Stop getting in agreement with the thoughts that say "you're being left out" and replace it with "I BELONG!" Stop getting in agreement with "you're not good enough" and replace it with "He that began a GOOD WORK in me WILL be FAITHFUL to COMPLETE it!" 

In closing let me just share a little story...I have been speaking life, discipling, and loving on the ladies for the past 9 months...yes, I feel this holds significance...but that's for another day. Anyway! The confirmation of "I'm right where I'm supposed to be" came Sunday night when I received an SMS from one of the young moms. She doesn't have a mom and became pregnant at the age of 17. Her daughter is absolutely beautiful and I love them both. She's going through a hard time and just needed a mother's ear and heart to listen. She shared some very personal struggles with me and asked me to pray for her. I know that you may not really understand why this is so significant but trust me when I say...IT'S HUGE!!! 

God spoke truth to me and then trusted me to speak truth to her...God is doing a NEW THING!