Discovery

One of the most wonderful things about knowing God is that there's always so much more to know, so much more to discover. Just when we least expect it, He intrudes into our neat and tidy notions about who He is and how He works.

~ Joni Erickson Tada ~

My kids love to sing the song, "God is bigger than the boogie man." The little guy thinks the next line says, He's bigger than Gorillas or monsters on TV. I don't think he knows who Godzilla is. But He sure knows that God is powerful and trustworthy. In some ways, kids know God more clearly than we do as adults. They trust complicitly in the words of the Scripture without balking or questioning. Their knowledge of God is innocent and pure, but untested.

I KNEW God was bigger than any fear of mine when I went to North Africa. I was still childlike in my faith at the age of 22. I believed that God was always there for me and I trusted Him. One night I chose to take a taxi home from a party instead of coming home with my host family. That was a big mistake. By the time I left the American get-together, it was dark outside but I hopped into a taxi with an address written on a piece of paper, thinking I would have no trouble getting home.

Apparently an address is not enough information for a taxi driver. I could speak French a little but I still didn't know exactly how to get to my host family's house. So, eventually, the driver got frustrated and just dropped me off on the corner.

In the middle of a small suburb, where good Muslim girls don't go out at night, much less alone, I stood trembling with fear. I could remember the warnings we were issued before leaving the states about never being left alone in a room with a man. Or the boys who had hit on me at the beach (despite my long missionary dress), thinking that I was easy because I was an American. I couldn't exactly walk home since I didn't know where I was going. My only hope was that I would meet someone who was trustworthy and who knew my host family. I prayed for God to show me the way.

And God showed me again that day that He was my protector and provider. He sent a group of young people who knew where I needed to go. In a few minutes, I was safely home, wondering how in the world I got myself into that much trouble.

God IS bigger than the boogie man and I needed to know that as a child and as a young adult. More recently, I've been wondering if He is bigger than the boogie man in my heart. As I have watched a friend fall into a disappointing sin, I questioned my own ability to stand firm against temptation. We are not exempt. Being a Christian, being a spiritual leader, or even knowing the Bible inside out does not inoculate us from the effects of sin.

How can I be sure that I will not do the same thing, fall into a terrible sin and dishonor my Lord? The answer came to me this Sunday:

"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:30-31

Trusting in my own strength is hopeless, but when I trust in God's strength, I can soar above the fears of this world and rest secure in Him. Each day as I navigate the untested waters before me, I have a new opportunity to see God at work in new ways. He never changes, but He keeps opening my eyes to how He works uniquely in my life.

Susan at Forever His is our hostess today for "In other words."