Thriving

Last week I wrote about the storm we have ALL experienced. For those of us still navigating our boats through the waves, fatigue sets in. This week, as we heard of yet another extension to a lockdown we are already tired of, I was reminded of something I wrote for Villa in the Hilla when we lived in a very different place (that I call the Land of Sand). It applies quite nicely these days:

Thriving

Don’t you want to THRIVE and not just SURVIVE?  There were many days sprinkled through my years in  the Land of Sand that I was just struggling to keep myself from coming un-frayed in front of everyone!  I was doing good to survive, but I really wanted to thrive.  Here is what I wrote one day: 

I am in my eighth year in the Land of Sand.  I cannot muster up “love” for the Land of Sand.  Some people say they love it here but I just can’t agree.  I don’t.  But I am happy here.  I have been wondering how that can be.  I am not always happy here, but for the most part I am.  I still can’t say that I love it here.  Is that OK?  I have been asking the Lord lately.   

Let Me Go!

Often I have prayed, “Lord, release us from the Land of Sand!  Let us go!”  But I always tell Him that I want His will over mine.  And He still hasn’t let us go.  Why would He want me in a place that I don’t love?  I suppose it is not so much that I don’t like it here, as much as the absence of loving it here.  Is there a difference?  I think so. 

The other day I read Psalm 102:28, “The children of your people will live in security.  Their children’s children will thrive in your presence.”  It occurred to me that many of us are grasping for handles on how to “not just survive but thrive”.  Yes, I am physically in the Land of Sand, but I should spend my efforts learning to “thrive in (His) presence”. 

What Would I Miss?

I began to think of what I would miss if I left.  To be honest, I would not miss the food, I would not miss the heat, the dirt, the desert (even though it is beautiful), and I am not sure I would miss the people all that much, because everywhere there are people to be loved and who need to hear the Gospel.  There is nothing I adore about the culture here.  What would I miss? 

I would miss the unity of believers in Christ.  I would miss the way this place requires me to be spiritually disciplined on a daily (no, on an hourly) basis.  I would miss the deep friendships of fellow workers struggling in a difficult place.  I would miss hearing first-hand stories of national believers who are suffering for the sake of Christ.  I would miss the deep spiritual lessons and growth that the Lord has brought me through during some really dark days in the Land of Sand. 

What I’ve Learned

If I had not come here, I would not be the person I am today.  I am better, I am stronger, and I am deeper in Christ.  I rely more fully on Him for the very next breath that I take, and I learned that through a particularly difficult time here.  I crave His Word more deeply and I learned that through my time in here.  I am more disciplined and more obedient to Christ.  I relish His gifts more and I take His instruction more seriously.  All of these are things I learned in the Land of Sand. 

I am learning to thrive in God’s presence.  If I can thrive in God’s presence and, in His strength, live here, then I can thrive in the Land of Sand.  Not because I love it, but because I love HIM.  Recently, a friend of mine said, “If you are wondering if all your struggles in the Land of Sand are worth it, they aren’t.  The Land of Sand is not worth it.  But Christ is worth everything, so Christ is worth it!”  Amen sister!  Christ is worth everything to me, so I will live here and I will thrive in God’s presence. 

Letting Go

There is nothing aesthetic about the Land of Sand that holds me here, but God has not released me and I will not let go of God, so I will trust Him and stay here as long as He wants me here.  I will not just “grin and bear it” because that would not be thriving in Christ.  I need too let go of my desire to love the physical side of things and I will just love Christ. 

I think that if people ask me, “Do you love it here?”  I can honestly say, “I am happy here.”  And that comes from thriving in His presence.