April Newsletter Article

“...and leaving yourselves in His hands, learn to be literally careful for nothing; and you shall find it to be a fact that the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Hannah Whitall Smith

I have been learning these past months what it means to rest in Jesus. I’ve been learning how to be like the birds and the flowers who do not worry about food or clothes, money or water, cockroaches or mosquitoes. I’ve been learning how to cast my cares on Him and bear the burden that is light by being yoked together with Him. I’ve been learning how powerless I am to change one hair on my head, add one hour to my life, or change something about my character; while learning His ability to do all of these things and more. I’ve been learning that I can’t control much of anything including myself, but that if I rest in Him He brings transformation, the fruits of the spirit, and a future worth living for.

I’ve been realizing that nothing good in me comes from myself, nothing I’ve accomplished is my own doing, I can claim none of my talents as my own. Everything is a gift of God, a sign of His working through me and in me.

So if I strive to do good works, to change myself, to be good, to make my life perfect, to change the world, then I’ll fail. But if I rest in God, trusting Him to do the work, having faith that He will do as He promised, then I know I will have life abundantly and be able to live it to the full.

Here I thought that I was coming to Africa to be a teacher, but all along God knew that I was also coming to be a student.