God of Angel Armies

Monday, June 1

He did it, that Devil. He found my weak spot…stress. He took that weak spot and attacked it until I believed every bit of fear and doubt that he was feeding my mind. He knows I am where I need to be. He felt threatened, so he challenged my faith. Where he messed up was this; he brought me so low, I had only one place to look…up. And there He stands, God, in all His glory, power, grace, love, strength, wisdom, peace, and forgiveness. My God, who has legions of Angel Armies ready for the spiritual battle that rages in and around me, with His arms open wide saying “I will fight for you; you need only be still” (Exodus 14:4).

I am a firm believer that, just like any human being or animal, the Devil only attacks when threatened. He is threatened when his plans get thwarted because we are doing the right thing. If you are under Spiritual Warfare, you must be doing something RIGHT! As my friend Nann says “The Bible never says God will not give us more than we can handle.” It does say however “He will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear” and that He will always provide a way out for us when temptation arises. If we were only given as much as we could handle we would 1. Have very easy and maybe boring lives and 2. We would have no need for God. We are given situations that cause us to trust Him so that in our weakness, His strength is made perfect! (2 Cor. 12:9) Or in the words of Kelly Clarkson, “♫ What doesn’t kill ya makes you stronger! ♫”

So here I am, humbled, weak, ashamed of my lack of faith, but so incredibly thankful that God has never and will never forsake me (Heb. 13:5). I’ve spent today in God’s Word, praying, and singing His praises. The songs that the children sing in English “My God is so big” and “God is so good” keep playing over and over in my mind. God had been trying to comfort me all along, but my human self had succumbed to the burning whispers the Devil used to penetrate my heart and mind. I know what God’s voice sounds like. I’ve heard it many times before. God is not the Author of Confusion (…). If I had only sat still long enough, I would have been able to tell the difference quickly.

So, I remain here in Uganda until July 18^th as planned J Whatever temptation is thrown at me, I will look for the Ways out that God provides. I am thoroughly convinced that mission trips are more to grow US than they are for us to grow OTHERS.

 

My Productive/Restful Day:

While I remained in bed today, the outside stress calmed down and the inside stress was calmed through scripture. I did do a few productive things at the Baby Home though. I helped Eva and her friend Precious (who gets her name perfectly honestlyJ) iron clothes to kill any mango fly larva that may be inside the clothing (to prevent them from burrowing in skin). I played Dr. Nicole as I bandaged up Joseph’s severely scraped and bloodied knee and foot. I felt quite professional with my rubber gloves, sterile wipes, wet washcloth with CLEAN water, antibiotic cream, gauze, Band-Aids, and duct tape (because I had no medical tape). I had a heart-to-heart/come-to-Jesus meeting with Eva’s great aunt about Emily homeschooling Eva. Then I showed Eva some YouTube videos of GloZell, Jamal Moore, and other random things that a 12 year old may like. And the power went out for about ten minutes. I skyped Hannah Branton for a few minutes and then at 12:00am Uganda time my family called to be the first to wish me a happy birthday J It was a good day with no tears!