Monday, April 22, 2013

Feeling lonely?

I sure do sometimes.



This morning I went to the clinic with my husband, but he had to leave for work before it was my turn to go in to one of my appointments.  

In Ukraine, there is no appointment system at the doctor office, you just show up when they are working and wait in line.  Sometimes you wait for hours just to see the doctor for a few minutes.  For pregnancy, women need to see many doctors and get many tests done, and this is overwhelming for Ukrainian women, so imagine how I feel...American, don't speak Russian/Ukrainian, and don;t understand the culture fully.  

So this morning I had to wait for about 30 minutes for the doctor, and meanwhile about 10 people come up to me and start asking questions in Russian or Ukrainian and I can't understand anything these people are saying to me.  I get this look of confusion on my face, and sometimes I can't manage to say anything at all.

Finally it was my turn to go in to the doctor, and I was able to get my husband on the phone to talk with the doctor.  I was only in the office for about 1 minute and the left again.  I had the option of going to another office to draw blood, but I didn't have the strength or courage to wait in line again and go through all the confusion.

It was incredibly hard, but everything worked out and thankfully that doctor wasn't mean or rude to me (sometimes it happens). So I praise God for that, but I just realize more and more how much I need to know Russian/Ukrainian, and it is currently next to impossible for me to take the time to study seriously. ( I work, have ministry and other responsibilities that take all my time)

I am still struggling emotionally and spiritually sometimes to get past the fact that I don't understand people most of the time. I know I need to trust and hope in God, but it's sometimes very difficult.

Some of my family members in America, and friends, struggle with depression and loneliness.  I understand what they are going through now that I'm in an environment where most of the time I have almost no communication with anyone all day except for my husband and some of the kids I work with.

When I first moved to Ukraine I felt extremely lonely, and I felt that no one understood what I was going through here.  I realized that Satan was using, and still is, these circumstances to lie to me and make me believe I'm alone.  1 Peter 5:8 says "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."  Since that time, I have started to fight back against my despondency and hopelessness with the truths of God and the Bible.  The foremost truth that I believe is that my God will never leave or forsake me.  The psalms are filled with this truth.  This morning at the clinic, I read Psalm 139:7-12 
"Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!If I take the wings of the morningand dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,even there your hand shall lead me,and your right hand shall hold me.If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me,and the light about me be night,"even the darkness is not dark to you;the night is bright as the day,for darkness is as light with you."


There are many other passages I can think of that talk of God's constant presence in the believer's life, but this one has captured my heart and mind for today.

I hope that if you feel lonely, despondent, depressed or hopeless that you will read these words for the psalms and know that you are not alone in your struggle.  Even if every person on the earth abandoned you (which is unlikely for most of us) God will still be there, and He is more than enough for our souls!  It took me a long time to realize this truth...that when I feel completely alone in this world and I have nothing earthly to hope in (ex: culture and language skills) God is the one who cares for my needs no matter what circumstances I'm in, and His love never fails me.

Monday, April 15, 2013

A Day the Hokies Will Never Forget

On April 16th, 2007 a tragic, massive shooting occurred at Virginia Tech, in which 32 people were murdered as a result.  Now 6 years later, the school has received healing from the horrific events that affected the whole campus and the whole world.  Over the years, there were other horrible events at Virginia Tech, which always left people wondering "why us?"



I was not present on the campus on April 16th 6 years ago, but I still remember the pain that showered the campus for a while afterward.

I used to ask God, "why do you let people die in such a horrible way?"

Well, after many years of growing in faith in God, I surely haven't come to an amazingly clean cut answer to that question.  However I do know a few things from the Bible that explain why there is such suffering in the world, and how we can handle it.

1. Sin is the cause of death - The Bible says in Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."  People will all die, physically and some people eternally, because of sin.
The only way to escape eternal death is to be born again, through the gift of life and faith in Jesus Christ.  This is a free gift of God, of which no person can do anything to deserve.

2. God will provide relief from our suffering through faith in Jesus Christ, now and in the future - Matthew 11:28-29 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

 Revelation 21:4 "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

3. The suffering does not last forever - 1 Peter 5:10 "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you"

4. Our pain and suffering is actually working for the good of believers - Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

5. Born again Christians can expect that they will suffer in this world,because of sin and because of their faith, but they should take heart, because God will not put them to shame - 
John 16:33 "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”"

2 Corinthians 4:8-10 "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies."

 Romans 8:18 - "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us"


Today I am praying specifically for the families and friends of those who died, who are still experiencing the pain or grief of loss, that they will be comforted by the God of all comfort.  I look at such circumstances as these, and always pray and trust God's plan.  His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and everything, even horrible things, work together in the grand scheme of His plan for the world to bring people to Him.

May God bless you to know Him today.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Happy April Fool's Day

Every April 1st, I specifically remember  back to a story I read about 3 years ago:

In Florida, an atheist became incensed over the preparation for Easter and Passover holidays and decided to contact his lawyer about the discrimination inflicted on atheists by the constant celebrations afforded to Christians and Jews with all their holidays while the atheists had no holiday to celebrate.
The case was brought before a wise judge who after listening to the long, passionate presentation of his lawyer, promptly banged his gavel and declared, "Case dismissed!"
The lawyer immediately stood and objected to the ruling and said, "Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? Surely the Christians have Christmas, Easter and many other observances. And the Jews -- why in addition to Passover they have Yom Kippur and Hanukkah... and yet my client and all other atheists have no such holiday!"
The judge leaned forward in his chair and simply said "Obviously your client is too confused to know about or to celebrate the atheists' holiday!"
The lawyer pompously said "We are aware of no such holiday for atheists, just when might that be, your honor?"
The judge said "Well it comes every year on exactly the same date-- April 1st!"
"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'"
Psalm 14:1, Psalm 53:1
If you ever doubt that God exists and that Jesus is the only mediator between God and man, then I recommend today that you think again, and pray about your understanding of God and who he is.  This is a life and death matter for you!  I've copied some texts below to help you get started.
Romans 1:18-25 God is angry about the sin of people
"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen."
Romans 3:10-18 No one is born righteous, and everyone is condemned naturally because of sin
 "As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
“Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and misery mark their ways,
and the way of peace they do not know.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”"

Romans 3:23-25 Christ took the punishment for all people's sins
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith."
Romans 6:23 - the cost of our sin
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 5:6-8 Christ died for the ungodly
"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 10:8-9 The only way of salvation from eternal condemnation in hell
"But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

Galatians 2:16 There is no way to work hard and do good to get into heaven
"know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified."

May God bless you on this day to know, love and fear Him in reverent fear!
God Bless!