Wednesday 29 Jul
On the rollercoaster of life, we depend on God though the ups and downs.
I don’t know about you, but growing up I never liked frightening thrill rides and I’m not a huge fan of heights. My kids have always wanted me to pluck up the courage and join them on big thrill rides at theme parks, but I prefer to have my feet on the ground. I’m happy taking the photos, content to cheer them on.
I’ve been thinking about rides this week as I have engaged with different Global Interaction team members, as they, like me, all relate to the experience of life on the
‘emotional rollercoaster’ of the COVID pandemic.
I’m sure we can all identify with this rollercoaster, where one day we may feel we’re coping well, learning new life lessons and stepping out in faith. But suddenly the next day we can feel flat, stuck, uncertain, sad. I keep reminding myself and others of the importance of being emotionally aware at this time and of the absolute need to have other ‘riders’ on the rollercoaster with us.
This past week I’ve seen the rollercoaster lived out on our teams.
We have celebrated with Rob and Deb, who in the midst of all the COVID uncertainty, were suddenly presented with a window of opportunity to return to their team in Cambodia. We praise God for this provision and for their safe return. Please join me in praying for God’s continuing protection over them and our Cambodian team.
We look forward to when other safe travel movements like this will be possible, but we also realise that these opportunities will remain very limited for some time to come.
As I have connected with others in our mission community over the past few weeks, including candidates and intercultural workers, most are uncertain of when they will be able to leave Australia or come back on Home Assignment. That’s the waiting game we’re all engaged in. We have others missing their home communities, or a long way from family.
Team members I have chatted with can certainly identify with the rollercoaster metaphor and yet it’s also great to see how much they cheer each other on. More so, I am encouraged by their resilience, their commitment to their call and their passionate desire to share in God’s mission.
But the reality is - some days, some weeks, in this season we find ourselves in - life is hard! That’s true for all of us and I feel for our all team members at this time as together we navigate these uncertain days.
And that’s why at this time and in this season – in the midst of a pandemic – our partners in prayer play such a vital role. We need your prayers. We value your prayers. We realise our absolute dependence on God. We celebrate a God still at work across our world. We hold fast to his faithfulness. We seek the Spirit’s leading. We thank you for standing with us and our teams. We thank you for riding the rollercoaster with us!
Serving Jesus Together
Scott
P.S. If you’re on Facebook, then check out our Global Interaction page and each Friday you can join me as I post prayer points that we can share in over the weekend and pass on to others in our faith communities.
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