Streams in the desert

Sometimes out on village trips, I find I struggle more with spending daily time with the Lord. I’m sort of addicted to quiet mornings by myself with my Bible and my coffee, and so, for better or for worse, when this routine is interrupted I often have a hard time focusing.

When I went to the forest in November, I was really in need of some time with Him, but just couldn’t seem to find a private place without distractions. One morning I went to eat breakfast with Pastor Jonoro and Robine, my friend who went with me. I was feeling frustrated, knowing that the day was starting and just wishing I had had more time to read.

As we ate, Pastor Jonoro began talking about some of the lessons that were rising to the surface of our discussions of the stories with the groups. We had been learning stories from the life of David. In the first story, God promises David that his descendants will inherit his kingdom. God also promises that He will never take His love from them, but that He will correct them when they stray. Then we looked at the story of David and Bathsheba, and Nathan’s confrontation of David’s sin. Pastor Jonoro talked about times in his life when he could see that the Lord allowed him to go his own way, even into sin, but that in retrospect he could see how the Lord had corrected him, and brought him back on track in love. The pastor was explaining that in his life, God’s love is not necessarily shown in never letting him make mistakes or fall into problems, even problems of his own making, but rather in God’s presence in those problems, and salvation from them, through them.

As he spoke, I had tears running down my face. I’m sure you’re all tired of reading about how much I try to be perfect, and fail, and about how God’s grace in these failures, and repeated assurances of the fact that perfection isn’t even the goal, are what often make me love Him most . . . but there it is. The sweetest part of hearing from Pastor Jonoro was that I knew the Lord was using him to speak truth into my heart, even though I hadn’t had time to read, I wasn’t alone with my coffee in my house—the Lord wanted to meet with me, and did, right there! I'm deeply thankful for the community of believers He’s given me here, and how He uses that community, and all circumstances, to teach me and guide me and make His presence known to me! Even if I’m in the “desert”, or the middle of the Masikoro forest with no time and no privacy, He can send me streams of living water to transform and refresh my heart!