As many of you know I moved to Japan just before the first
of this year. My husband an I had been separated for 6 months prior to me moving
here so you could imagine my excitement. I absolutely love it out here so far.
Its been 8 great days with new discoveries being made each day. We found a
church home called Greater Harvest that will spiritually feed us the unedited
word of God. We found a number of really cool shops, and the food out here is
delicious I have yet to eat at a restaurant that I don’t love. Despite all this
great stuff that is going on we still have run into some hurdles. Moving to a
different country is fun and exciting but it definitely has its downsides. And
through the struggles we have incurred I find it to be the perfect time to
practice what I preach. Last month I did a blog on patience and this month I have
to apply everything I wrote in that blog to my daily life. The characteristic
of patience and choosing to trust God when things do not look like they are
going to work out is what separates the warriors from the whiners. I have been
a whiner before but it is 2016 right I rather start and finish this year as a
warrior letting my faith and trust in God take my husband and I to places we
never even imagined.
This new life
requires us to wait for housing from the military housing department. We both need
to get a driver’s license, and then we need to purchase a vehicle. I need to
look for a job and we both have to do a mountain load of military paper work. All this isn’t too bad but, my husband leaves at the end of this month for
another deployment, so that puts a time restriction on us and creates a sense
of urgency. But in the middle of the panic and the rush to get everything done
before the end of the month there is God whispering to us, “just be still and
know that I am God" (psalms 46:10). See God doesn’t want us to worry about the task at hand or
the time restriction he simply wants us to trust in him. Because he is the same
God that rescued us and redeemed us from tough situations before as he is
today. I refuse to forget when facing trial that God has already proved his perfect
love and faithfulness to me by Jesus’s death on the cross. Making time to rest
in God’s presence when you get hit with trials shows your dedication to him. It
shows that no matter what is going on or what list of things need to get done God
still comes first. It is good to know God’s promises of provision when going though
difficult circumstances. Below I will list some of my favorite verses to
meditate on since being in Japan.
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Romans 12:12
Rejoice in hope,
be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious
about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God.
Jeremiah 29:13
You
will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Philippians 4:19
And
this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious
riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
Much love and peace to all my sisters and brothers who are fighting
a battle people know nothing about. May this encourage all those who read it.