by Pastor Jerry Theckston
Shalom dear people of God (Dt. 33:3)! We are only days away from our long mission trip to Ukraine, Israel, Kenya and Ethiopia! It is both exciting and sobering to step into the active terrors of War with people who have seen things our eyes were never meant to witness!
Rolfe Carawan is already in Eastern Ukraine receiving some much needed dental care from a dear brother there. He will join me in Kharkiv, Ukraine next week, by God’s grace. Dr. Lev Prystupiuk and I are planning to connect up in Warsaw, Poland and then drive into Ukraine from there. (May 4-27) After Ukraine, Rolfe and I, and possibly Dr. Lev will spend a week in Israel (May 28-June 4), which is also facing great turmoil ever since the October 7th terrorist attack! Then a week in Kenya, (June 4-11) as God leads, where our dear sister, Sierra Boler, will join us and possibly one other that I will mention in a subsequent post! Kenya, besides all of the normal deprivations, has been overwhelmed by historic flooding, leading to further human suffering and death! Finally, we intend to finish in Ethiopia. (June 12-19) Our dear friends there have been in the throes of a Civil War that has taken the lives of over 500,000 people and to add to the misery, a terrible drought has caused 1000’s upon 1,000’s more to starve for lack of Anything to eat!
There are many opportunities to help in each of these countries that are facing such desperate times and, by God’s grace, we will be found useful in His merciful plans to care for them…
My dear Sue was reading a daily devotional this morning from, “My Upmost for His Highest”, by
Oswald Chambers. (see below for the full devotion) He reminds us not to fill in all the blanks for God but to go where He leads, when He calls and trust the details, needs and concerns to Him who is Sovereign, Loving, All-Powerful and Absolutely Faithful! And, by the grace of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, we will do so!
Much love in Jesus dear friends, jerry and the team
Gracious Uncertainty by Oswald Chambers
"It has not yet been revealed what we shall be." I John 3:2
Our natural inclination is to be so precise—trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next—that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down roots. Our common sense says, “Well, what if I were in that circumstance?” We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been. Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life—gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God—it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, “unless you . . . become as little children” (Matthew 18:3). The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, “Believe also in Me” (John 14:1), not, “Believe certain things about Me.” Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in—but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him.
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