It's been nearly 4 weeks with no rain.
Almost every water tank on the island is empty. Coconut and banana trees are turning brown and brittle. And I think I just saw Will Smith running through the jungle...
For well over a week now we (missionaries) have all been hauling water from various wells around the island, as the people have been willing to share with us. We haul the water for flushing and for washing our clothes. We are thankful to have enough fresh water left for drinking, especially as we are hosting our two work guys! What an interesting experience for THEM in particular!
As we have been constantly praying for rain, a good friend of ours, Cathy, sent some inspiring words. Let me share them with you:
An excerpt from Daily Bread titled "Desert Places"
...How delightful to read Isaiah 48-49 and hear His answer: They weren't thirsty when He led them through the deserts...There'll be foodstands along all the roads, picnics on all the hills - nobody hungry, nobody thirsty, shade from the sun, shelter from the wind, for The Compassionate One guides them, takes them to the best springs."
While the Scripture quoted above is about God's restoration of Israel, it is true that as His children, grafted in to His own family, we can stand confidently knowing that He does and will indeed provide for us (His children of
every nation, tribe, and tongue!).
I find it important, and easy to overlook, that the passage says "when He led them through the deserts". During their time of stretching, He was leading them. Jesus said something similar, "...in this world you will have trouble..." As children of God, we are not exempt from hardship. In times when it is much easier to see this, we can give our hearts over to worry and anxiety, or we can turn our eyes to Him.
"What would you have me do?" and "Who are you in the midst of this?" are some great questions to be asking as we try our hardest to stretch the remaining water we have. We would like to encourage our Tigak brothers and sisters in this as well.
"I'm feeling really stretched", Noe said yesterday, in reference to the work project. Doing a project like this in a remote location is a whole different pig* than doing such work in our home country.
As I walked away, I was wondering in my talk with the Lord why He would allow Noe to be feeling stretched when we are already feeling stretched thin. I wonder why He brings us to those places/seasons when our resources (physical, emotional, spiritual) are scant. Especially when we are 'supposed to be ministering' to others!
I definitely don't know all of His reasoning. But I do believe that part of the answer is so that we will choose to fix our eyes on Him and let Him fill us, similarly to His own words to the woman at the well. She sought water to drink, but He explained to her that more important than that was the water He gives, welling up to eternal life. It reminds us that we are here on this earth for His purpose. He made His purpose clear as a fresh bottle of Aquafina- "Go and make disciples of all nations..." He didn't call His disciples to invest themselves in things of this earth. He called His disciples to offer that eternal-life-giving water.
I believe another reason He leads us through these 'deserts' is so that we are given tangible ways to relate to the unbelievers around us. Just like any big crisis anywhere in the world, it has a strange way of drawing people together. We seek these opportunities to empathize with those around us, and see how the Lord would use us to help come up with wise solutions.
Having this focus helps me not be anxious and distressed during a time of being stretched. Rather, it helps me to look into His eyes, and to do so arm-in-arm with my brothers and sisters in Him.
*Bear was the word of choice, but there is yet to be a bear sighting here...pig is much more culturally relevant.
