There are many obstacles against progress in life. I believe discouragement is one of the worst. When the work on the new center building was begun last fall, there was much willing help and enthusiasm. Diligent effort, time, and money was poured into the effort. And the visible results cheered us all.
Then came the set backs. The fall rains eroded masonry and revealed weaknesses in the "ringto" beams. Orders for roofing timbers were delayed, and costs just kept multiplying... Time was put into other efforts and the building that was suppose to be the cornerstone of the work in Makindu has begun to take on the reproach of Jesus' parable. "All that behold it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build, and was not able to finish.'" (Luke 14:30)
Dear ones, are we looking at the crumbling walls with apathy and discouragement? Here the words of one who faced the rubble of a desolate city: "Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach." (Nehemiah 2:17) It is time to be encouraged, and remember that this is not our work, but God's. As the people of Jerusalem responded, "Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work." (v. 18)
We need to be strengthened. God calls us to a good work. Not only the building up of earthly walls and buildings, but the constructing of eternal truths in lives around us. Do the "waste places" and "desolation of many generations" look impossible to restore? If we look at our resources and limitations, the obstacles are truly great. We need to look higher. We need to consider instead the ability of our God and remember that "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it" (Phil. 1:6) and "Faithful is He that calls you, who also will do it." (1 Thess. 5:24) He is the Lord of all the earth. Is anything too hard for Him?
Let us pray for one another and encourage one another in the work that God has laid before us!
What better place to be?
It is our natural desire to change our circumstances to avoid pain and suffering. No hunger, no labor, no impossibilities. And in doing so we would lose the best things of life. Where would be compassion? Love? Faith? As the songwriter said, "If I had the choosing of my pathway, in blindness I would go astray..." How much better to trust our lives into the loving hands of our faithful Creator! He knows best how to truly satisfy our needs.
Today's update from Makindu echoes this confidence. Though the crops are drying up and God has withheld the much-desired rain, Brother Lawrence reports: God is not uncaring. We went to the garden of Bro. Dominic Malonza, and his testimony was: "God singled me out in this drought." His bean crop has done wonderfully well, whereas the crop has failed in several other gardens. Praise the Lord for all His care for His children, for He has said, "...I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Heb.13:5).
We have accepted the Lord's will in these matters and have submitted to Him to learn whatever He has for us to learn in this drought, which is now taking its toll of the crops. We still have greens available and people have not become desperate yet. If the rains come, some will harvest some maize. The animals will have fodder till the next rains if they come in April/May. So we have a lot to thank and praise the Lord for.
However, we have experienced from the past that famine causes people to seek God more seriously. So we have begun asking God to work things in such a way that more will turn to Him and look to Him for help and deliverance - not only from sin, but also all other things hindering souls from getting closer to Him.
Yes, Amen. In the Father's will every request is granted. In His hands we are safe. There is no better place to be.
