Thanksgiving and Suffering

Our transition back to life here in Uganda has not been easy sailing. While there is always a readjustment period in transitioning between worlds, this time has been the hardest I remember. While it has been a challenging season, I have seen some ways in which God is at work. 

Yesterday David was asked to speak at the GSF staff Thanksgiving Day. He taught about how we can glorify God through good times and times of suffering. He explained that if our goal is our happiness, suffering just seems to get in the way, but our true goal should be to glorify God. When our aim is the glory of God we can “give thanks in all circumstances.” That doesn’t mean that times of suffering are easy. As he spoke about Jesus waiting to answer Mary and Martha’s request to come heal their brother out of love for them, tears came to my own eyes. The seasons of waiting are hard. They are painful and often full of grief. The resurrection was coming, but Jesus still wept with Mary at the tomb of Lazarus. He knew that he allowed the season of suffering and waiting in his love for them, but he still wept. 

It is so good to know that we have a God who weeps with us. These last two years have been difficult across the globe. But Jesus stands with us as we weep and even uses the seasons of suffering to bring new life in us. I have seen that in my husband. He has become an amazing preacher in the midst of a challenging season. His teaching at the staff Thanksgiving Day was a blessing to many. He preaches at our church about once a month and I am always encouraged by his teaching. Our church is a small group of people meeting underneath a mango tree, so his sermons are not recorded. But I wish they were. I wish you could also be encouraged by the way he clearly articulates the Word of God and applies it in our lives. 

This growing gift in David has developed in the midst of some challenging times. I wish I could tell you that I see how I have grown through this season. Mostly, I see my failures and weakness. Maybe that is growth as I learn not to depend on my own strength, but on the Lord.

David concluded his talk with Philippians 4:11b-13. 

“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4:11-13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I certainly cannot yet claim with the apostle Paul that I have learned to be content in every situation. I often complain. I often struggle to believe that God is good when I see some of the terrible things that happen in this world. But I was encouraged seeing a small picture of the good that God is working in the midst of the hard. It is my prayer that He will give me the faith to desire his glory above my own plans and to trust Him in the difficult seasons of waiting.