August 2017 - Susan Panzica

Another email from our friend “B” bearing horrific news.

B is a pastor in Nepal. He and his wife run an incredible ministry in Nepal raising awareness about human trafficking and traveling the country empowering women by encouraging mothers to form support groups and become advocates for their daughters in their communities.

We at Justice Network have been honored to support them both prayerfully and financially. And we get updates with their prayer requests.

Sadly, many of their reports have been one monstrous calamity after another. Of course, you know about the earthquake of 2015. Since then, they experienced a mud slide causing the destruction of a school, periodic flooding, illnesses, and most recently massive nationwide flooding.

After the mud slide that broke the wall of the school killing several students, injuring others physically and all of them emotionally, I was completely undone. It’s hard to understand why some people seem to experience the lion-share of suffering.

Then this week, another disaster, the nationwide flood from continuous rainfall for two days. I’ll spare you the horrendous photos of dead children covered in mud. But once again, I was grieved to my core.

I was at a total loss for words, which if you know me is a rare occasion indeed. I went to Romans 8 for the verse that reads, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Rom. 8:26)

And then, in the same paragraph, there it was, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)

To see these verses coupled in one passage brought new meaning to each of the two familiar verses. When we are so devastated that we can’t pray and the Spirit intercedes for us, God is still on the job, working ALL things together for GOOD.

We may not see the good now, but we can trust the One who can.

A half hour later, I opened my Bible app on my phone. The verse of the day:

I’m so thankful for God who not only speaks to us, but confirms it despite my weak faith.

B and his family and community live in a communion with God that I can barely fathom. They trust Him for EVERYthing. As my friend Christina said, “I always wonder to myself how different their spiritual experience must be from ours.”

The comforts of living in the US can be a blessing, but also can reduce our dependence on God. It’s been said that that nothing improves our prayer life faster than big trouble. So that’s one way that God gets our attention.

People love to quote Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” But this verse was written to people in exile. It would be seventy years before this promise would be fulfilled! Until then, the Israelites in captivity were to seek the Lord with all their heart. Only then would He be found by them and they would be restored. (Jer. 29:12-14)

My challenge to you and to myself is to continue to call upon the Lord, to seek Him with all your heart, in all circumstances, both blessed and broken.

“…call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jer. 29:12-13

If you would like to financially support B and New Light Nepal, visit Justice Network’s Donate page. You can donate via check or credit card. Please add “Nepal” in a note on PayPal or memo in a check. And thank you in advance. Their need is very great, but even small donations go a long way.

For years, I longed to ride a motorcycle. Finally last autumn, I signed up for the Motorcycle Riding Academy.

The first part of the first day was spent in the classroom with video and personal instruction. The rest of the time we put that instruction into practice out on “the range.” Our teachers shared many important pieces of advice, but perhaps the most essential six words of advice were: “Look where you want to go.”

There is a unique connection between vehicle and driver. You can experience this connection to a much lesser degree when driving a car. But on two motorized wheels, there is no margin for error. This skill honestly can be a factor of life and death. You will drive exactly where you are looking. If you look at a tree hoping to miss it, you will inadvertently drive right toward it.

Now at every corner, I force myself to look past the curve down the road to where I want to be. If I stare at the road ahead of my front tire, it is exponentially more difficult to make the turn correctly and end up in the proper place in the lane. I know – I’ve ended up making turns much more dangerous than they needed to be just because I wasn’t looking ahead to where I wanted to go.

This advice, so critical for motorcycle safety, is also crucial for life. Where and what we focus on determines where we are going. <<click to tweet>>

When we’ve been let down in life, we can focus on the disappointments as if they’d change by our replaying them in our minds. We can look at the inequities we or others face in life and grow bitter that there appears to be no justice. We can concentrate on the irregular people in our lives and wish them harm or at least what we think they deserve.

But is that where we want to go? Do we want to become like those who have hurt us? Do we want to develop resentment or bitterness?

Or do we want to develop Christ-likeness? Do we want to respond as Jesus would? Do we want to be free from the burden of worldly attitudes which drag us down?

Life will hand you curves in the road. That’s guaranteed. Jesus said,

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

His promise of tribulation is sandwiched between His offer of peace and His assurance of overcoming the world. When we focus on the tribulation, we miss His peace and are overcome BY the world.

The key is those six words: Look where you want to be. Stop focusing on what is right in front of you; enlarge your perspective to the bigger eternal picture; and focus on what Jesus is doing in you through these difficult situations.

“… the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:3-4

Are you struggling with circumstances that test your faith? Know that these trials can be tools God uses to bring you to completeness and maturity when you keep your focus on Him. And keep looking at your goal – where and who you want to be.

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! Heb. 12:2 MSG

I’ll close with a quote from an article from Revzilla, a motorcycle accessory shop:

“Look where you want to go” means keeping your gaze on the real prize, the big goals you want to achieve during your finite time on this sphere. Staring at the spot just ahead of your front tire, either literally or metaphorically, ensures you won’t be ready for the next curve life throws at you.

Month: August 2017

When it’s just too hard

The 6 Most Valuable Words