I woke early this morning with matters of returning to the States weighing heavily on my mind. I woke feeling unprepared and anxious for my return. Where will I work? Where will I live? How will I find my niche again? And so I prayed – not so much that God would answer these questions for me, but so that I would be okay with not knowing them (even as I search these answers in practical ways, that is, I’m not suggesting that I’m a disinterested bystander in my own life).
After my prayer, I received an e-mail response from a friend that I met in Burkina. She quoted from Aiden Wilson Tozer:
" The man who comes to a right belief about God is relieved of ten thousand temporal problems, for he sees at once that these have to do with matters which at the most cannot concern him for very long; but even if the multiple burdens of time may be lifted from him, the one mighty single burden of eternity begins to press down upon him with a weight more crushing than all the woes of the world piled one upon another. That mighty burden is his obligation to God. It includes an instant and lifelong duty to love God with every power of mind and soul, to obey Him perfectly, and to worship Him acceptably. And when the man’s laboring conscience tells him that he has done none of these things, but has from childhood been guilty of foul revolt against the Majesty in the heavens, the inner pressure of self-accusation may become too heavy to bear.
The gospel can lift this destroying burden from the mind, give beauty for ashes, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. But unless the weight of the burden is felt the gospel can mean nothing to the man; and until he sees a vision of God high and lifted up, there will be no woe and no burden. Low views of God destroy the gospel for all who hold them."
Notice Tozer doesn’t say, “Don’t worry, be happy”. But rather we are asked to remember our sin, and our mistakes, and our weakness, and our hopelessness, and out of that we can pray a more honest prayer of thankfulness for his Gospel and worship of a good God. And perhaps then we are prepared to live more “fulfilling” lives – not experienced though the elevation of our self-esteem or self-actualization (a lesson from our culture), but rather through the humble obedience (rooted in repentance) and the recognition of our unworthiness in the face of God’s sovereignty. Such a response is fulfilling, not because we see that God is responding to our earthly needs and desires (as sometimes can leave us in disappointment), but this response is fulfilling because it satisfies the inherent purpose of man – to worship God. Don’t get me wrong, I am NOT saying that we are saved by self-degradation. Certainly we are saved solely by the grace of God through Jesus death, accepted by God as payment for our sins. I AM saying that as God’s chosen, we find fulfillment in glorifying God which can be more deeply expressed as we recognize our depravity.
Sorry for the theological lesson, but I am finding such studies to be increasingly applicable in my life. Maybe you will too.
Well, it’s already 9 AM on Wednesday morning, and I am in the capital city of Ouagadougou, and I plan to spend my day shopping and in meetings with Matt Walsh. Matt and his family arrived yesterday from the States for another assignment in Mahadaga. You might remember that Matt (and family) went back to the States last December; leaving me with the responsibilities of the development work that he had begun not long before.
In the coming 2 weeks, I plan to inundate Matt with project progress, lessons learned, and employee relationships on the varied work (Survival Gardens, Well Drilling, Hand Pump Design, Fence Making, among others). Please pray for Matt – he’s had a very busy home assignment, and I hope I can transfer the work without overburdening him in these first 2 weeks.
A quick update on well-drilling… Tiabli, Bouba, and Ali have earned their “Attestation du Forage et Pompe” – that is, I have presented each of them with a certificate saying effectively that they’ve graduated from the ODD Borehole and Pump Apprenticeship program. Furthermore, I have begun to put in place a program by which they can work for themselves and simply rent our tools. They are still learning the basics of having their own enterprise, and will need some hand holding, but they are doing very well.
I was about to collate my thoughts on the significance of well drilling in West Africa on this blog, and I soon realized that I need to develop a document instead. But in short, it provides jobs, it provides more water, it provides cleaner water; and secondarily it reduces sickness, improves agricultural efficiency, soil quality, and length of the growing season; and there’s a market and a supply chain. Moreover, and more personally, I have seen God use this work to bring a few young men closer to Him.
Regarding my return to the States, I’m looking forward to coming back just in time for Thanksgiving (after 10 days of visiting some friends in Europe). I look forward to connecting with each of you soon.
Brendon
No comments:
Post a Comment