A blessing and a curse

Sometimes it seems like things in life can be a blessing and a curse at the same time.  For example, our van.

We mentioned in our last couple of newsletters that we have to cover the rest of our one-time expenses (officially known as Outgoing Funds), as well as pay for van repairs.  When we bought the van, we knew some repairs would need to be done, but it ended up being a lot more than expected.  The result?  A van that’s in excellent shape that should be a great ministry tool for years to come.  The other result?  We have a LOT of repair bills that need to be paid off now.

Now it seems that there are some electrical issues.  Translation?  It’s something as minor as a few lights, major enough that we need to get it fixed right away.  It’s minor enough that it could just be a loose connection somewhere, but if you know anything about electrical problems in vehicles (which I don’t really, but I know this), you know that it could take hours of labour just to find the problem.  That means another big bill.

Technically, there is no day free when we could take it in between now and our trip to Saskatchewan.  And we may not be able to get it in that soon anyway.  But I’ll try to make an appointment to get it dealt with as soon as I can.

As we get closer to leaving (just over 4 weeks), it seems that all the blessings and trials are compressed into a smaller space (though no doubt we’ll see in eternity that what we thought were "curses" were actually blessings).  You may have read on our More news page about the challenges of getting one minor thing done (and I have had to add to this page, apparently the story isn’t over yet!)  Recently, a CAM missionary in Guatemala wrote,"the enemy never takes God-driven missions endeavors sitting down."  It’s true – it seems as we get closer to leaving the enemy is showing he’s not pleased.  And it’s not because we’re brilliant, talented missionaries.  It’s because God wants to use people who can’t do it on their own – He wants to work though us, and through you.

But it reminded me of the story of Stephen, the early martyr of the church, in Acts 7.  Just before he died he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God.  American music artist Ray Boltz wrote a song about Stephen – how it seemed like no one was one his side – but "someone stood up for Stephen".

I’m not sure that’s exactly why Jesus was standing – but we know this much.  He allowed Stephen to see Him – in all His power and beauty, and so Stephen did know that Jesus, the All-Powerful, was on his side.

So no doubt the enemy doesn’t take these things sitting down – but neither does our Lord.  And who’s the most powerful?  There’s no doubt.  So please join us before the throne to pray about these things.