Trust

Hey all, Meggie Here from Dreaming of Avonlea. I had already begun thinking of this post when Lady Weaver asked me to write for her. So of course I said yes! You'll have to forgive any choppiness, or errors, I haven't written in so long, it's a little hard to get back in the groove. So Until Next time!

God Bless!
Meggie


Trust

OH! it's an ominous word these days. It's word we hear daily, and with it always comes an incling of doubt.

"Trust me! This is the best product on the market!"

But what if it isn't?

"Put Your trust in 'Local Bank!' If you do you can't go wrong!"
But how do you know? The economy's pretty bad right now...

"Trust me, Babe, I would never hurt you! I Love you!"

But what if he's wrong?

You see? That word is used so liberally by the liars and schemers of the world that it has fair lost its meaning. Most of us, if we are smart, have come to the realization that we can't trust anybody anymore. Sometimes we can't even trust our pastors, our friends, and heaven forbid, even our parents.
As we go through the world we have learned to fend for ourselves. We are wary of everything and everyone, just to make sure we don't end up hurt or in trouble.

But where does that leave God? Stuck out in the rain?

We have become so self reliant that even trusting God is hard.

Do you remember the "Trust test" we used to do in school? Someone stood behind you and caught you as you fell. It was great so long as your best buddy was behind you. Not to mention it helped if your friend was the bodybuilder of the group.

Well God is our body builder. You remember that "Atlas" guy from Greek Mythology? You know, the one who held up the world? Well, God created the world, and holds it up, and the universe, and heaven, all on his pinky finger. Atlas Ain't got nothing on our God.

So why can't we trust him?

We've gone through our whole life being prepared for the day when we would be on our own. Our own Council, our own Law and Conscience, Our own MAN. But God Never meant for us to be alone. Stand up on our own for too long and we'll wear out. Someday we will get old, and tired, and we'll fall, and fall hard.

But Just as we begin to sink, God is there holding out His hands to catch us. And if he can hold all creation up with his pinky finger, how strong do you think His hands are? Not to mention His comforting arm when we do fall. Can you imagine how easy life would be if we just laid back and let God carry us in those strong ams? We'd never have to worry about finances again, Or health, or people, He'd just do everything.

Did you know that that's possible? The more we learn about Christ, the more we can be like Him. And when we act like him, and talk to him, and continue to learn, we begin to understand what he wants us to do. Whether it be in finances, Relationships, or health, we CAN let him lead the way. And no matter what hardships we face, we'll always know we'll end up in the right place by and by.

So why not let go for once? Just Fall.

And Trust.

Far Into The East: Intro

When my group returned from our short mission trip in China, we were asked if we wanted to submit a trip testimony for the missionary's blog (found here). The following is what I submitted:

“How was China?”

Since returning home, I’ve heard this question many times. Even though it is the simplest of questions, it has been one of the hardest for me to answer. How do you summarize a two week, life-changing trip? As I thought about China, I realized what had impacted me most.

It wasn’t the food.

It wasn’t the Great Wall, Tienamen Square, or the Dragon Tower.

It wasn’t even the surprisingly eventful fourteen hour layover in the Tianjin airport.

What impacted me the most were the Chinese people.

One morning, after we arrived in Harbin, I was reading in Mark 6, “And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them…” I don’t know how many times I’ve skimmed this verse and never comprehended its meaning. Being in China shed new light on it.

One of the men from our group made the remark, “You know, in DC you can go from a crowded area to somewhere quiet, but here… you just move from one crowd to the next.” Everyday we spent the majority of our time with people – students from the university, children from the church’s apartment complex, and leaders from Omega. We passed out tracks and flyers, shared our testimonies one-on-one, and helped put on a VBS. The only alone time we had was in the shower.

Our visit to the Je Li Buddhist Temple also helped bring Mark 6:34 into perspective. That particular morning, our group had been singing hymns and passing out gospel tracts on the steps to the temple. As we entered, I was stunned. Going from worshiping the only true God to watching ritualistic obeisance to false idols was sobering. As we walked along, we grew quieter. At one point, we were stopped and motioned to the side as a long line of monks – men, women, and children wholly dedicated to Buddhism – passed us while chanting. In that moment, I understood.

“…and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.”

I was watching a literal march to Hell.

There I stood, crying, weak, and insufficient. These people had dedicated their life to finding truth and enlightenment and I, a daughter of the Truth and the Light, could not tell them where to find it.

It has been two weeks since I “saw” China. God is still teaching me lessons from my trip. It was difficult to leave knowing that there is work to be done for God. But I am thankful. The trip gave me a greater appreciation for freedom to share Christ in the US. It helped me understand that this world is not my true home, heaven is. And most of all, it opened my eyes and gave me a compassion and desire to see, not just China, but the whole world reached with the Truth and the Light of the Gospel.

So the next time someone asks me, “How was China?”, I will answer with this: it was something that you need to see for yourself.

(Original Source)

If you want to read the rest of the groups' testimonies, you can find them under the "Testimony" tag. I'll be updating more often with the start of school, and will be starting a few series. This post will be the first of my series about my journey in China.

What about you all? I would love to hear about your experiences from your own mission trips.