God's Providence

Most believers can recite Jeremiah 29:11, although they often take it out of context as a splashy platitude to mark an occasion such as a graduation, anniversary, etc. They might be surprised to learn that the context of this passage is the beginning of the exile of the Israelites to Babylon. Go back to verse 10, where God promises that the exile is going to last for 70 years. Let's put that in a greeting card... "I hope you suffer for 70 years, and then enjoy some benefits at the end." (#adulting) Why would a benevolent God subject His people to such a thing? The answer lies in His providence, His pre-planning and provision for the fulfillment of His ultimate goal. And what is that goal? Americans might be discomfited to realize that the plan is not for us to be content with a fulfilling career, a loving spouse, 2.5 children, 2 luxury cars, and an annual trip to the beach. Reality check: "...God our Savior, ...desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3b-4). So how does God accomplish His plan?
My US pastor gave a great message on Romans 8:28 on June 17th that you can listen to here ("The Promise of Providence"). It brought up both self-reflection and interesting discussion with my French language teacher, Ibro. Here are some of the things we have been discussing:
Do we believers think that we deserve only blessings? Do we say to God, somewhere deep in our hearts, "I gave up half of my Sunday to go to church, so I really deserve for you to bless this project at work on Monday"? Do we lose our faith when prayers aren't answered the way we expected? Do we missionaries count our "sacrifices" in moving to hard places and expect mounds of blessings in return? I admit that missionaries are not immune to pride and comparison--we struggle in varying degrees with the temptation to think to ourselves, "Well, not only did I move to this Third World country, but I can survive here without an air conditioner! Look at these other "soft" missionaries, with their modern appliances! Not me! I'm REALLY COMMITTED to the Lord's calling!" Reality check: all believers are required to be self-sacrificial (Jesus called the disciples away from jobs, family, homes in Matthew 4) and all are required to go through trials (John 16:33). Thousands of believers are suffering and dying around the world today.

Can we trust that ALL THINGS work together for good--for God's plan? Even in discomfort, in grief, in pain?
What we have to remember is that God is never absent--silence doesn't mean absence. John the Baptist and 11 of the 12 apostles, except for John, were violently martyred. Does that mean that He abandoned these faithful ones in their final hours? I don't believe so. God's answer is not always the one we want nor expect, but He is the only omniscient one. He often uses martyrdom as a catalyst for church growth, as we have seen in modern-day Iran following the death of Pastor Haik Hovsepian. Please pray especially that the recent outbreak of violence against Christians in Nigeria will somehow be turned to glorify God. My heart breaks for my Nigerian brothers and sisters who are living in fear, and I pray for the steadfastness of their faith, their hope, their trust in God.
To trust in God's providence in the midst of trials is the refining fire of faith. The verb "to trust" in French is "avoir confiance", literally, "to have confidence in." I am reliant on Jesus and the Holy Spirit to wake up each morning and place my confidence once again in God's hands, not finding any confidence in my abilities, education, position, family, etc., but only in my identity as a daughter of the King.
What do you have confidence in?

Adventures in Language Learning

I’m thankful that I have a good French teacher who has a pleasant sense of humor. He speaks French, Zarma, Hausa and English, and he’s been teaching for many years. But there are some sociolinguistic things that I have to teach him about American English. Like today, I taught him about the art of the “mic drop.”

Each day Ibro will ask me to tell him 2 Bible stories, with as much detail as I can remember, and then he’ll ask me questions about them. Today I told him the creation story and the tale of original sin. After peppering me with questions for a few minutes, he then asked me how I would sum up everything I had told him. I said, “Le peché est grand, mais Dieu est plus grand” (Sin is great but God is bigger) and dropped my pen. Then he laughed and I had to explain how Americans will make a joke (or a profound statement) and then drop the microphone. He loved it.

One of the first English idioms I had to explain was “it will cost your firstborn child,” in the context of American students attending university. Ibro asked, in surprise, if it was normal for a student to pay their own tuition (versus their parents paying for them) and I told him that in my experience, it was very rare for parents to have enough money to pay for the university tuition, so there’s a big problem of student debt in America.

 Anyway, he knew the expression “it will cost an arm and a leg” (il coute la bra et le pie) and I explained that this expression meant it was even more expensive. Then I recounted the story of Rumpelstiltskin to give him further context.

Other discussions about translation have arisen around Biblical terms. For example, I said I would pray, “I will bless the name of the Lord” and he thought I had mixed up the sentence, meaning to say God would do the blessing. We do get into our theology! Last week I tried transliterating a passage of Scripture from English to French, and Ibro was confused by the context. I said that God instructed us to make a joyful noise (in worship, celebration, etc—see Psalms 95, 98, 100) and he said noise couldn’t be joyful. Apparently “le bruit” has a negative connotation in French. So the French Bible I have reads, “Venez, crions notre joie en l’honneur de l’Eternel!” (Come, we are shouting our joy in honor of God, the Eternal!)- Psalm 95:1a.

I make plenty of mistakes when we’re in lessons, but I think the funniest was when I meant to say “she fed the baby” but I said “she ate the baby” (in the context of the story of Moses…oops!!). It just makes me think of the famous line… “You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.” I'll push through the blunders, though. I won't give up on French--that would be