(image courtesy Wikicommons)
Heidi has been doing a lot of traveling lately, visiting churches and seeing people hither and yon. It has been a real opportunity for her to go outside her comfort zone, seeing new places, meeting new people, and learning all about GPS!
Heidi feels called by God work with university students, showing them His love and sharing with them His Word. However, the Lord stretches us and causes us to grow in our gifts when we find ourselves doing things we never anticipated doing, such as navigating by the GPS, speaking to new friends, asking others for help, and so on. This process will (Lord willing) prepare Heidi for the work, and enable her to be useful in ways she does not now anticipate.
This is also a stretching time for Dad. Heidi recently went to visit a church member in Canada to help prepare for VBS at our church. Wondering where she was, I used the GPS app on the phone to see her location. Alas, to my surprise, the app told me she had crossed the border, with no information on her current position! Yes, I am aware of Heidi's maturity, I am aware she is much closer now than she was when she lived in China, I am aware of our friends in Canada who would step in for any troubles she might encounter. What can I say, I am a dad. Occasionally, once in a while, I worry sometimes.
I think there are a couple lessons here. One is that even if the GPS app does not know where Heidi is, our Lord does. (Psalm 139 applies here.) Another is that the satellites can only keep track of where she is now, but our Lord know where she is going, and he promises to guide and direct her according to his love and compassion. "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." (Jer. 29:11)
And of course, that is true also for those university students Heidi hopes to work with in Colorado with Horizons International. Who will Heidi be meeting? What will they be like? How will they respond to the Bible? What will happen next? The computer is no help here. The dot is stuck at the border. The app is silent. But our Lord knows, truly He does. All we can do is trust Him.
And we can do our best to be cheerful as He stretches us!
(Posted by Bill Carson)
