Missions Newsletter - October 2021
Callie
“There are no obstacles which our [Father’s] love cannot overcome. The High Places of victory and union with [Him] can be reached by learning to accept, day by day, the actual conditions and tests permitted by [the Father], by laying down of our own will and accepting His. The lessons of accepting and triumphing over evil, of becoming acquainted with grief, and pain, and of finding them transformed into something incomparably precious; these are the lessons of the allegory in this book.”
― Hannah Hurnard, Hinds Feet on High Places
To face grief and pain is a difficult thing. It is not something that we would likely choose to do, yet oftentimes it is something that we find ourselves being asked to do. The question then is not will we face grief and pain, but will we allow ourselves to become acquainted with it? Will we allow sorrow to be a companion that points us towards the Father or will we avoid it?
A few weeks ago I sat in a coffee shop with a local and she told me, “Wow, you must be so brave to move to a new country.” After thinking about her statement for a moment I responded, “Actually I’m really scared.” While I am thankful to be here, I often feel very lonely. I cannot tell you how many times I have looked at myself in the mirror and said, “What am I doing here?” Or how many nights I’ve sat at the foot of my bed and just cried and told the Father that I want to come home. I miss my friends, my family, the freedom as a woman to be able to come and go as I please. Then, when I am feeling my lowest, a moment will happen. A moment with a local that reminds me of why the Father has me here. It is hard work, but how much more difficult would it be to live a life of hopelessness and an eternity separated from the Father? So, do I want to have sorrow as a companion? No. But, has it led me to depend on Him more than I have before? Absolutely.
“Whenever you are willing to obey me, Much-Afraid, and to follow the path of my choice, you will always be able to hear and recognize my voice, and when you hear it you must always obey.”
― Hannah Hurnard, Hinds Feet on High Places
