Anticipate :: Devo #9

Made Whole
The meditation leader for this lesson based her study on the story of Hannah. Read 1Samuel 1:1-28 and 1Samuel 2:1-11, 18-21. Hannah experienced distress – things were “broken” in her life. We see that she put her situation before God. The result, she left the temple where she had prayed and been counseled by the priest Eli with a face that was “no longer downcast” (v18). Nothing had “happened” yet, but her confidence in the Lord had already lifted her up.

I’ll always remember arriving in Santiago 24 hours late after our “vacation” in Miami. When we stepped out of the terminal building into the warm night air, Dan, Sharayah, Cassie and Mara were there to greet us. And Dan observed, “We are whole again!”

It had been a long, difficult day, traveling all the way to Miami only to miss the only flight of the day to Santiago. This resulted in a long wait at the ticket counter to get re-booked and a long discussion with the airline before we were given vouchers for our overnight stay. Then, another wait at the curb for our transportation to the hotel, provided by a driver who asked US where the hotel was. Were we thankful for what was happening? Were we looking for the message that God had for us? Did we see opportunities to serve as short term missionaries, even though we had not “arrived” in the field yet? YES. What a team! The day that we were made whole again, as Dan described it, started with a trip to a park on the edge of Biscayne Bay where we held an impromptu worship service, thanking God for his provision in this special way. And, of course, we made it to Santiago.

While we might see certain situations as our plans being “broken,” God simply asks us to see anything that happens as an opportunity. And we can express our thanks to God throughout, knowing that what we may see as broken at the moment will eventually be seen as a part of the wholeness of God’s plan.

Prayer
Thank God for what he has done so far in building up our team and for revealing to us already some of the opportunities we will have during our visit. And let’s pray this week that we have the confidence in God’s plan to be excited from beginning to end regardless of what happens at the moment. Pray again for the each member of the Team as we continue to prepare our hearts and attitudes for the trip.