A Good Place

Recently, a friend wrote and asked me a simple question, "How are you doing?"  

When I considered how I should respond, I was thrilled to realize that I could honestly say, "I am good.  I am in a really good place."  And I meant it, in every sense of the word.  We've had a few really difficult years, with some tough circumstances, and a bit of a drought of the soul in my own life and heart.  But, I am happy to say that I feel like even though I've moved to the desert, I'm standing at an oasis.

I think there are lots of reasons I can say that.  First of all, we love our new home, the community we're finding here, and we're excited and hopeful about the work we have to do in this place.  Secondly, I feel like our time in the States really gave us a chance to step back, catch our breath, gain refreshment and encouragement, and reconfirm our call to West Africa.  But the biggest reason I feel like I can say that I'm in a "good place" isn't because of our circumstances.  It's simply because I've navigated some really dark times, wrestled with doubts I had never been faced with in all my years of walking with Jesus,  and I have come through it more convinced than ever that God is good, His ways are sure, and I have all I need in Him.   

I am sure that struggles and uncertainties will come my way again.  There will be other seasons of sorrow, difficult circumstances, and the like.  But, for now, I'm enjoying being in a place of plenty, where streams of abundance run through my soul.  

At the risk of sounding like a simpleton, I want to encourage you.   If you happen to be experiencing your own "dark night of the soul," rest in Christ.  Dig into his word, confess your concerns, your fears, your doubts, and your hopelessness to him.  Ask him to reveal himself to you and wait expectantly for his work in your heart.  I don't know how he'll work in your life, I only know that he will.  

Here's the view from my back porch.  Beautiful, isn't it?

"But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, 

whose confidence is in him.  

They will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when the heat comes;

its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

and never fails to bear fruit."

Jeremiah 17:7-8