We have been in the US for a nice, full six weeks with our family and plan to return to Angola next week.

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I awoke this morning remembering a message that a dear friend gave at a Sunday morning service many years ago.  I’ve been to thousands of services since surrendering to Jesus as an adult and almost every service has nourished me in some way, like a good meal, and then, also like most meals, was forgotten.  Similar, as well, to most forgotten encounters in my life, a few messages return to me at times and impact me again.

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My friend spoke of God’s presence and provision in crisis/hardship.  He took us through multiple stories in both Old and New Testaments, where our Father, for His purposes, didn’t remove His beloved from pain or conflict, but rather met them in the midst of difficulty and provided for them sustenance, courage, purpose… and His caring, faithful ever-presence.

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This past year has been among my most beautiful and most difficult.  Our colleagues, the DeSouzas, remain beautifully faithful and devoted to those we serve, our staff of over sixty employees continues to do work beyond their capabilities/training and continues to passionately learn how to serve better those who arrive in need.  The challenging management of the pioneering work in Cavango (I’ve never seen my gifts as directed toward pioneering or management) has been both exhausting and rewarding and, because of the efforts of many of you, thousands of beautiful and forgotten rural people in the heart of Africa are receiving care where little is otherwise available.  This season has also provided much personal pain.

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It has been a season that could read like a modern novel, marked by the murder of one of our beloved employees, followed by several vengeful assaults by mobs on various accused and untried individuals (another friend worked for us for years was assaulted and likely sustained permanent brain damage).  Several of our employees have been accused of infidelity and others, witchcraft. Accusations true or false both present their own management challenges.  I’ve experienced personal abandonment, betrayal, rejection and loss, all from people I never expected to deliver the same.  I won’t go into detail, but I write because I know I am not alone in facing sometimes overwhelming challenges.  Many of you have been there and perhaps are currently in a similar painful season, and I wanted to write a note of encouragement, especially to you.  You know who you are.

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Tozer said that our life is a battleground and not a party/playground.  Our expectations have significant impacts on our outlooks, responses and pursuits.  I have been challenged again to see life through this lens, for myself and for those I serve.  I see it as healthy to align my expectations with this reality, to recognize the battle and to have “eyes to see” my Father’s continual presence and provision in the midst of real pain, struggle and sometimes doubt.  This also helps to free me from embracing the enticing and popular notion that we are to pursue/expect “happiness” in this life.

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Few in battles are “happy”.  Many at playgrounds are “happy”… How we see our lives and ourselves creates expectations… 

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Tozer’s perspective aligns with that of Jesus (and many who followed Him), who was hounded, ridiculed, rejected, betrayed, beaten and killed and still claimed that following Him was “abundant life”.  I think this is because a person who accepts that the battlefield is real will let go of the desire/pursuit of personal happiness and gain spiritual, mental, emotional and even physical health (abundance) by aligning his/her expectations with reality.  A person can certainly follow Jesus and avoid unpleasant battles and be “happier”.  A person can “happily” sit in the bleachers and watch the battle, as happened during the civil war in the US.  Or a person can sacrifice the pursuit of personal “happiness” and enter the battle for the sake of others wounded in the battle… I’ve rarely met a soldier who denied that, once the bullets and bombs began to fly, his principal motivator for fighting was his care for his colleagues.

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This reality is often overlooked, even in the church.  The world is full of people in pain, starving, alone, confused, lost and forgotten… as we focus on how we might make our lives better…

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The world, in general, will promote the pursuit of greater pleasure and happiness and insist that it’s possible to arrive at a pleasant destination of the same.  Is it?  Is enough pleasure, wealth, and attention possible?  “Pursue your dreams.”  “Follow your heart.”  “Go for the gusto.”  “I only want you to be happy.”  Expectations and desires for pleasure; with no expectations of threat or battle… 

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This is in contrast to a story I heard once of a native American leader of a nation involved in constant battles with neighboring tribes, who arose every morning before dawn, whether summer, winter, freezing, sweltering, rain or shine… and took a five minute swim in the river near his village.  He did this because and, only because, this assured him that he would be fully awake and physically, mentally and emotionally prepared for any threat or challenge that would come at him or his people during that day.  Expectations of, and mentally prepared for, a threat or battle every moment…  Some would call this paranoia and anxiety, others wisdom…

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Our battles… good vs evil; engage or avoid conflicts; edification vs destruction; health vs illness; self vs other; good vs good; truth vs lies; reality vs deception; encounters with unwise people making poor choices with good intentions and those with intention for harm; chance vs purpose; justice vs injustice; what to speak/do, whether to speak/do, when to speak/do, how to speak/do, etc.  All are options and our choices re these options will have consequences, always… positive/negative, good/bad, healthy/unhealthy, long-term/short-term, for us/for others…

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Each person walking by the embattled man on the road in Jesus’ illustration about the caring Samaritan had options and likely encountered a brief inner battle as to how to/whether to respond.

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All battles involve people being stretched, wounded, confused, depressed, tired, angry… and few, “happy”.  Rarely do those engaged in battle “feel good”. All battles involve those courageous, scared, lonely, anxious…  All battles are fought by friends and enemies and “sides” must be chosen.  The 30yr civil war in Angola was about ideology and not about land/territory.  All family and friendship relationships were weighed and one’s spoken belief put at risk all relationships, and often one’s life.  

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That we are in a battle means that we all experience wounds and encounter others wounded, all the time.

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As soon as our Father made the decision to grant His creation freedom and to rule with care that prioritized another, he opened himself to the possibility of betrayal, rejection and their accompanying destruction.  The word “sin”, which is never used in our culture outside of a “religious” context, indicates an act or attitude involving destruction of something of value. 

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The creation account in Genesis reveals that our Father created only beauty, with one honoring aspect of that beauty involving freedom.  He knew that a free creation could redefine purpose and what is good/beautiful, could reject and forsake even its Maker, and could destroy all the beauty that He had created.

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Yet… we consistently turn from our loving Father.  We worship creation and the creation of the created, rather than the Creator.  We determine that our ultimate purpose is to enjoy life, to satisfy our desires, and that the world was made for us, instead of for Him.

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Still caring after such rejection… our Father entered the world in Jesus, revealing Himself to us, forgiving us for our self-worship and inviting us to restored union with Him…

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And today… He is still faithful and provides… as Counselor, Guide, Comforter, Rescuer…

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This is why we live.  To follow Jesus, with the same mission – to reconcile to Him those who can’t see or hear Him, to invite those wandering alone in the darkness (as we were) to surrender to His loving embrace…

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Life is a battle.  We have faced this reality directly this year and you have, as well.  We will all face battles this year that will hurt and demand from us sober attention, which we can ignore or embrace.  We will be surrounded by wounded people in the same and other battles and we can ignore or embrace them. We will be tempted every day to abandon the battle and pursue “happiness”.

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It’s been said that the difference between people is not their circumstances (everyone is a victim, everyone is abused, rejected, betrayed, etc) but, rather, how they respond to the same… Paul spoke of this in his first letter to the Corinthians 10 and in his second letter to them 1.

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Let us discipline ourselves to jump into the icy waters this morning, to meet with our Father, and to do whatever is necessary to prepare to fight today with and for our Father… no matter how we may be hurt, fatigued, betrayed or rejected… against the powers and principalities within us and outside…

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that call us to abuse the freedom He so graciously has given us; that entice us to fulfill desires of personal pleasure; that push us to worship anything other than our Father; that encourage us to close our eyes to all the pain around us and make self-fulfillment and self-love our priority… 

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Let us remember today that we are few… and that our call is to follow Jesus… to abandon our lives as He did… so that many would benefit… and He would be honored…

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