Wilderness Experience

Date: 9-22-07

It's a dark night outside, the crickets are humming, and the coal fire the pressure cooker is over is glowing orange out on the porch. It is here I sit overwhelmed by what an amazing opportunity God has presented me with here. It is a discovery that I can't help but share with you.

I walked into Sabbath School and joined our newly formed group of English speaker's, the sounds of the Mundo, Nagerene, and French language Sabbath School's mixed together in the brick building. We opened up to the weeks Sabbath school lesson and saw that it was on Hosea and Gomar. I strained to hear the conversation as the Quinine makes my ears feel like they are filled with cotton, I caught pieces here and there. It came my turn to read the next verse..and this is what I read.

"Therefore, behold, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak tenderly and to her heart. And I will betroth you to Me forever, yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will even betroth you to Me in stability and in faithfulness, and you shall know, recognize, be acquainted with, appreciate, give heed to, and cherish the Lord.and in that day I will respond, says the Lord." Hosea 2: 14, 19, 20

Tears filled my eyes as I read this, I looked out the tall rectangular windows that lined the church wall, rice filled rolled in the breeze, a couple children ran by laughing, dragon flies hovered in the air that was beginning to get heavy with heat. I thought of my hut, my cot, my mat, my hole, my new family.

This was it! Tchad, this was my wilderness experience, I'm so sure of it now. God has brought me here to betroth me to Him forever in righteousness, justice, love, mercy, stability, and faithfulness! The incredible part is even if I don't do something incredible here in Chad He still wants to have a relationship with me, in fact it might be the very reason why He has brought me here. He always takes the initiative, all I have to do is be willing to be loved and that love relationship will cause the changes in my life. I can mess-up here, spend too much time at the hospital house, not learn French, and maybe not even do something amazing for God here..those are all earthly thing/accomplishments that gives us a sense of righteousness. God could care less, He wants us to focus on what is not seen what is eternal, He just wants to take us to the wilderness and for us to experience with Him true love.

I continued to read this morning and found this verse:

"Come and let us return to the Lord, for He has torn us so that He may heal us. He has stricken so that He may bind us up..then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning: and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." Hosea 6:3

I know that the changes aren't going to be easy, but as I read the description of the love relationship that He offers if you embrace those trials in the wilderness experiences that He brings into our lives.I can't help but be excited about the possibilities