We continued to be prayerful and continued to feel God leading us to consider mission service. At the same time, it seemed that several situations were causing extra stress in our lives. There wasn't any one big thing, but there were several things such as my Dad's diagnosis and treatment for gastric cancer, issues and divisions within our local and national church, Rick's computer crashing and the 70 hours it took for him to get a functioning computer. There were other little things too, but these were the issues that weighed the heaviest on our hearts and minds. After an especially stressful period in early August, I told Rick that I believed we were under attack by Satan. We had been counseled during our early interviews in the missionary placement process to be ready for Satan's attack as we sought to follow God and His plan for our lives. We believed that this might happen, but we had no idea how intense it would be when the attack came. Once we realized how Satan was trying to disrupt our peace and distract us from focusing on where God wanted us to be, we asked God to protect us with His whole armour that we might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:10-12
I also found myself saying, "In the name of Jesus, get thee behind me, Satan!
We felt the power of His might and were able to regain our focus. This early attack also helped me to realize that God's plan for us might actually be a move to Haiti. I know this sounds strange since we had been praying about it for many months, but we were taking this journey one step at a time and would not have been surprised if God led us in another direction. In fact, my selfish will wanted it to be an exploration of mission service - maybe to influence someone else - and not mission service for our family. In some way, I felt assured that we were truly seeking to follow God. If we were seeking to serve self, the devil would leave us alone to stumble and fall down the wrong path into confusion. The realization that he was trying to distract us made our focus on God more determined and more clear.
The preparations for the trip continued and my emotions ranged from excitement to anxiety to overwhelming awe to fear to love and peace. I made my lists and packed for all of us; Rick, Selah and myself to go to Haiti and for Mara and Krae to stay with Grandpa and Grandma Aberle. The physical arrangements were the easy part, but we also had to prepare our hearts and minds spiritually. We spent a good deal of time in study of God's Word and in prayer. I personally prayed for love of the Haitian people to develop in my heart. I also prayed for strength and protection as our family was separated. I found myself in the Psalms often and Psalms 121 spoke to my heart. Each verse of the chapter spoke to me in a specific way that related to our upcoming trip and decisions for our family. All of a sudden, Psalms 121 was popping up everywhere for me. It was read from the pulpit, it was sung in a song, my Bible was open to it often, it was part of a devotional, etc... In these eight verses, I found comfort in the strength of the Lord to help me, to keep me from stumbling and to preserve my going out (into the mission field) and my coming back in. I praise Him for giving us His word to comfort, guide and teach us!
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help?
My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon they right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; he shall preserve thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. Psalms 121:1-8
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| Some of the Beautiful Hills of Haiti. Will my help come from these hills? No - it comes from the Lord who created them, who created me and who created all of heaven and earth! |
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