Lent....And Africa

I would like to share with you all some things God shared with me this morning in the Lenten devotionals I am using this season.  The prayer and benediction especially.

Prayer

Loving God, the places you ask me to go are sometimes scary.  I fear I’ll be alone, or that my needs won’t be met.  Assure me with

your love.  Amen.

Benediction

We have been told in the letter to the Hebrews that Jesus has journeyed to this unfamiliar place before us as a forerunner on our behalf.

Wherever you are, Jesus waits for you as the “sure and steadfast anchor” of your soul.  Trust Him!

As I read these words I was reminded of our trip to Uganda in 2009.  We were leaving Llolwe Island late in the day to go to Bavuma Island. Just as in the story in Luke 8:22-25, “a squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped.”  I’m not sure we were in great danger, as the scripture goes on to say, but we felt we were.  We eventually(after almost an hour) turned back to Llolwe for the night and, the next morning, made it safely to Bavuma.  What we didn’t know at the time was that as we stopped on the lake for the leaders to confer, or so we thought, the motor had actually fallen off the boat.  We had no idea!!  Praise God, they had tied a rope around the motor and were able to pull it back up and re-attach it to our boat.

As I read the above benediction God brought this all to mind.  He is so faithful to remind us that He truly is a “sure and steadfast anchor”.  He cannot be lost in the depths of turmoil as the storms of life swamp my little life.  He is my ever present help in times of trouble(Psalms 46:1). I only need to “Be still and know that He is God(Psalms 46:10).  I only need to Trust Him for He is God!!

The boat is the one we rode in (all 20 of us and our luggage and supplies) and that is the motor which we (almost) lost.  The sunset is what we experienced upon returning to Llolwe.  The squall had died down and God showed Himself in all His glory!!