Greetings to all! It's almost impossible to believe that I have been here for two months, and that Christmas is twenty days away! There will be no snow here in this part of the southern hemisphere, no chestnuts roasting o'er an open fire, no sleigh bells, and for the most part, no Christmas lights or trees. Even so, the at first apparent lack of aesthetic "Christmas spirit" does nothing to diminish in my heart, and the heart of believers here, what this season represents: the first coming of Christ, let us not forget that the first time He came as a humble man, obedient to God the Father even unto death on a tree, but He is coming again as a conquering King! My prayer for you reader, is that your heart is ready for that day, that each one of us can say, "Maranatha: Come Lord, Come." Christmas season will be different here, instead of families all gathering around in their home to celebrate Christmas and New Year; many will be leaving with their families to have summer vacations at the coast, or in the mountains, some may even cross the border and go to Uruguay or even Brazil. Yes, Christmas will be different this year.
Well, after that rabbit trail, I have one more thought, inspired by recent personal experiences here in Choele Choel. Many times as I read through God's Word, I forget that even though every word of scripture IS inspired by God's Spirit, every man that God used as His instrument to record His word was just that, an ordinary man. Each one had his struggles, his victories, moments of despair and moments of unexplainable joy; each one probably had family and close friends, and certainly struggles in his closest relationships. I myself tend to feel sometimes like, "I can't relate with this scripture, this or that person didn't experience what I am experiencing!" But then this morning as I was going through my daily devotional the Lord brought Psalm 55 to mind. In the opening verse the King David says, "Hear my prayer and do not turn away from my plea... I'm crying out to You because of the enemy is attacking me and has me down." (My own paraphrase). A few verses later David says "If only I had the wings of a dove, I would fly away from here to some deserted place and rest!" He goes on to say it was his own friend who betrayed him, someone he confided in closely. Isn't it amazing? The most powerful man in all Israel, feeling assaulted and insecure because of a failed relationship with someone he trusted intimately! Something clicked for me there, the Bible really, and every word therein, is still relevant for daily living today! Amazing right? Who would've thought? Well, David, as if to remind himself and us how do deal with these situations says this, "As for me, I will cry out to Jehova, and He will save me... Cast your cares on the LORD, and He will sustain you, he will never let His righteous fall." David speaking out experience, even though he realized the bleakness of his situation, says, "Trust in the LORD, call out to HIM, don't try to fix it with your own intelligence."
Well, now I can explain how I can relate with that, my situation here in Argentina in the past weeks has changed a little bit. I am no longer in "La Casa de Diaz," because of not being able to work through a certain issue with my host father (and close friend). So instead of living in constant tension I moved out to the chacra to stay with Juan and Amarís. The truth is I expected this trip to be a little bit of a time of resting in the Lord and spiritual renewal, instead these past few weeks to me seem to have been filled with more tension and unease, but there it is. If one wants spiritual rest, one has to learn how to rest in Christ and allow His peace to rule in the midst of turbulent situations.
The second part is that, one can't trust in a certain place or person to fulfill their spiritual needs, when we have reached that point, we are not living under Christ's lordship, we are living in idolatry. When our happiness or joy depends on where we are, what congregation we attend, how good is the worship band, is the preacher good at giving public addresses? When we become dependent on these things, when we are trying to fix our problems in our own strength without seeking God's direction, and His answer, we are living in idolatry. Instead of turning to what we can see, touch, and understand, let's turn to Christ, who's peace surpasses all understanding, and who guards our hearts.
Lastly, in this time, I am realizing that every congregation and every place where believers gather has issues. Because who makes up the Church? People! Sinners! We know that life very often is no bed of roses, especially when we talk about following Christ, and being involved in discipleship (discipling others and being discipled.) Living in community is most definitely no bed of roses, but those who truly desire to grow in Christ, have to learn to live in community with the rest of those in the body of the church.
As to daily life, I am still working every morning here at the chacra, mostly doing odd jobs that need to be done, but no one else has time to do. Most days I go into town, and try to spend time with the north americans who came down a month ago; sharing mate, coffee, going to the river, and visiting people around town are all the different ways of how I spend my afternoons here. I do have one new update, I am considering taking a trip to Chile for about two and a half weeks this month, so I will most likely be there during Christmas and New Year! Your prayers for this time and for God's guidance and provision are still greatly covered!
God's blessing and peace be with you all this Christmas season!
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