Overcoming Obstacles

I recently began driving to and from town. It’s about a 15-mile drive and it takes a minimum of 35 minutes to get there. Why you may ask…well first of all it’s my first time ever behind the wheel of a car with the steering wheel on the right therefore also my first time keeping left. In addition to this, there are many many… did I say many obstacles. Potholes the size of the car and almost as deep as they are wide, cows, goats, children as young as 3 walking along the side of the road, bicycles that never look back, tractors carrying sugarcane stacked as wide as the road, matatu’s that seem to be qualifying for the Indy 500, construction that detours onto a bicycle path now serving as the main road still accommodating all of the above…. It’s a wonder I ever make it to town at all. Once I arrive I have to pay to park and gas is over $1 per liter. So I think it ‘s safe to say obstacles are abundant.

Today the children were at school and in the afternoon I saw the storm clouds rolling in. They were in the last class of the day learning their respective subjects when rain started to fall on the tin roof. It didn’t take long for the pitter- patter t on the roof to evolve into a deafening sound. It’s impossible for the teacher’s voice to project over the noise. So what’s one to do???? They had to wait 30 minutes to resume the lesson. Oh yeah and I forgot to mention the kids have 1 textbook per 3 or 4 kids. They all crowd around the book, dying to get a good look at it. They want to learn… it’s their only hope of overcoming the death grip of poverty. How’s that for obstacles.

I could go on and on and on about the abundance of obstacles here, but I won’t. That would be giving the enemy too much credit. The truth is that obstacles are being overcome here everyday. God is at work in a mighty way, and I have to choose joy!!!! I have to choose to fight. I have to choose to trust that the Lord has it all under control.

I will say with great joy that the grace of Christ is with me! In the daily obstacles I see God so clearly in the eyes of the children. I see him in the majesty of a sunrise over the mountain and in the wrath of the storm. Every time the storm comes, it too shall pass and the sun returns to reveal the glory of the Lord in all things living and thriving. The storm is necessary and it tests the faithfulness of all creation. So lets give thanks to the Lord for He is good and his love endures forever!!!

*I’m usually not one to cut and paste parts of scripture and all of Psalm 107 is amazing… just listed my favorite parts to save space J

Psalm 107

Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So

¹ Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever!

² Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,

whom he has redeemed from trouble

³ and gathered in from the lands,

from the east and from the west,

from the north and from the south.

⁸ Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

for his wondrous works to the children of men!

⁹ For he satisfies the longing soul,

and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

²⁸ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

²⁹ He made the storm be still,

and the waves of the sea were hushed.

³⁰ Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,

and he brought them to their desired haven.

³¹ Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

for his wondrous works to the children of men!

³⁵ He turns a desert into pools of water,

a parched land into springs of water.

³⁶ And there he lets the hungry dwell,

and they establish a city to live in;

³⁷ they sow fields and plant vineyards

and get a fruitful yield.

⁴³ Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;

let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.