Many of you are wondering if we have heard any news concerning our reunion with Sophia. Unfortunately, we have not heard anything definite. We know she is our daughter, we know we are going to go and get her, but we just don't know when. Dear friends I know that your frustration is mounting like ours, but we must continue to entrust ourselves and this situation to the Lord. Frustration is the result of unfulfilled expectations. We just have to keep reminding ourselves that the Lord is in control and things will work out in his timing. Some of you may be wondering what good it will do to think this way, so let me offer a few ways this line of thinking can help us:
1. The Lord Jesus is to be the focal point of our lives, not our desires. We should desire Jesus above all other things and people. This is what David meant when he said, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Ps. 37:4, NIV). To delight ourselves in the Lord is to desire him above all things, and the promise is that the Lord will not withhold himself from us. Jesus said, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26, NIV). The focal point is Jesus; he should be our all consuming desire.
2. There is comfort in the knowledge that we rest in the One who is in control. There is so much of our lives that we cannot control. We don't know if someone will run through a red light and hit us in an intersection. We don't know when we sit down to a meal if we will get food poisoning. We don't know what person will pass us and infect us with some contagion. There are no guarantees that hard work will pay off in this life. However, we do not despair because "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28, NIV). God is not set on destroying us, but on conforming us into the image of his Son, Jesus Christ. His purposes and plans for us will not fail.
3. Anxiety never made anything better. Jesus chided, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Luke 12:25, NIV). He later stated, "But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:31-32, NIV). We are called as Christ's followers to trust his intentions as well as his actions. We cannot see the end of all things, but God knows the ends even as he knows his appointed means. Worrying about it doesn't make a positive impact on the circumstances.
4. It offers greater testimony to the faithfulness of God. There is a difference between saying we believe that God is faithful to his promises, and living out our trust in that faithfulness. Anxiety says to the world that we believe our God to be fickle or faithless or incapable. It reveals a deep seeded mistrust in our Sovereign. Our actions and attitudes are often better reflections of our true beliefs than our statements and confessions. We all understand this principle. We are all leery of a person who feels the continual need to "convince" us of his honesty, but give us a person who has consistently proven his honesty in his dealings and we know we can trust him. Likewise, a believer who consistently lives out his life with confidence in the Lord is more readily believed than someone who is always trying to convince the world that they believe. Or as we say in my native Missouri, "Show me!"
May God grant us the wisdom to live in complete trust in him. He alone is the only one worthy of absolute trust, because he alone is absolutely trustworthy. May he be glorified by our confident faith, as we seek to walk in obedience to his will and purposes. And know this, dear friends, as soon as we hear about our appointment we will let you all know. Until then, continue to trust the wisdom of our Lord.
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