Faith.
Psalm 13
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide you face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and everyday have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.
It has been harder than I ever thought it would be here. Not that I have bad living conditions or anything is really physically hard. Recently I have had so much doubt in my life though. I have been wanting God to do things, to prove why I should have faith. I know that God exists and that Jesus died for the world because of the change I have seen in my life. Doubt creeps in though and I find myself, as it says in Psalm 13, wrestling with my thoughts. My prayers would seem to be bouncing around inside my head, with no God in sight. I know he’s there, but at times I have trouble believing it. We were in church singing one Sunday and I realized that the problem was not that God wasn’t with me, it was that I had no faith. I wanted proof for something I already knew. I wanted experiences to verify what God had already revealed to me. It is one thing to want to be a part of what God is doing and to experience God. It is another thing to constantly search for proof, instead of having faith in our amazing, all-powerful God. I will stand firm in my faith because my God stands firm. The love that he’s shown is more than sufficient.
“But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.” -Psalm 13:5-6
Don’t doubt what you already know. Give him your life and don’t let your circumstances determine your faith and, in turn, your effectiveness.
We spent a great week in Badajoz working with English classes, the week before Thanksgiving. We had a movie night and a Thanksgiving dinner and both went very well. Hopefully many friendships were built and those who attended are at least a little closer to a friendship with the one who gave it all for them. On Thanksgiving Day we had another Thanksgiving dinner here in Sevilla and that also went very well. We have several events coming up.
December 4 – We are having a cooking class.
December 10 – We are having worship and then watching a movie.
December 13 – We are having a Christmas party with food and games and what not.
December 15-20 – We are going on a well known pilgrimage, El Camino de Santiago, through Northern Spain. It will be cold, but a great period of reflection and also a great opportunity to talk to those who don’t know our Savior.
December 21 – We are having a Christmas party/concert in Burmujos(the pueblo that David and Chanelle live in), where we will invite everyone that we know. Hopefully many will attend and hear with open hearts the incredible story of Jesus.
Please be praying for these events. Pray that many will come and relationships will be built and that these wouldn’t just be more stuff that we’re doing, but that Christ would be apparent above all. Please continue to pray for our language learning. We are all coming along, but we still have a LONG way to go. We are also all starting intercambio. Please pray for relationships to be built through those.
Thank you for your prayers and support. I love you all. Chao!
