The Series of Uncomfortable Events

Thailand, known as the land of smiles, or least it once was. Now as you look into the eyes of the Thai people you see a lot of emptiness where that smile used to reside. The pursuit of happiness has left many of them lost, confused, and broken. However, maybe the most broken, confused, and lost of them all are the foreigners who travel here to buy them. Yet, I feel incredible hope for Thailand. I somehow see within them a hope for restoration that I’ve never felt before. As soon as our plane landed I felt an indescribable calmness. It was as if I had found the missing piece to a puzzle I wasn’t even aware existed. While we were prayer walking the streets the first day, God started speaking to me about how Thailand has the redemptive gift of mercy. As I get to know the hearts of the ladyboys, prostitutes, and children in the slums, I see it all around. The gift of mercy has been oppressed by the misguided pursuit of love. Their vulnerability has been exploited by a lack of knowledge. Yet somehow, even though their hearts should be hard and calloused, they can’t help but love. It’s their nature. No matter how stone cold their faces are, a little love brightens them up, and you can see the joy trying to bubble up. While showing love on the streets of Pattaya I’ve learned a valuable lesson. Showing that you represent love is not so much in your words as in your actions. Although I can’t speak Thai, ladyboys and prostitutes will just stare at me in wonder, wondering what it is that I have that they don’t. They often will tell me. “ I like you because you have a beautiful smile, why is it that you are so happy?” My answer to them is “ Jesus just makes me happy, and He makes me love you so much I can’t help but smile. “ Now that I’ve traveled from Africa to Thailand, I’ve noticed the countries carry a different kind of strangeness, but offer a very similar truth. Growth is uncomfortable. Without the friction of being in a difficult, challenging, situation, we would forever stay the same. So in my journey I’ve come to a place of learning to embrace the uncomfortable and it is good. Because in the midst of it I know that I am forever changing. While living in the uncomfortable, I’ve actually started to realize the most dreadful thing to happen would be to become comfortable; because in the luxuries of easy, a piece of my heart that was meant to grow dies, and forever gets stuck in a state of dullness. If I’ve learned anything on this journey of life it would be that what we think we desire and what we actually desire are two completely opposite things. God the Father in His goodness knows this, so instead of always giving us what we want gives us what we need. I think that’s why Solomon wrote “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21 “ And in his heart a man plans his course but the Lord determines His steps. “ –Proverbs 16:9 So all this to say, I’ve decided to do something that’s uncomfortable to me and stay in Thailand for longer, then travel to Cambodia, then on to Vietnam. This will probably extend my trip about 3 or 4 weeks. I will be traveling with some other girls on our team who also feel called to Southeast Asia, and we will be bringing the kingdom of God to every place we set foot. At this point, I’m not sure how I will have money to fund this, but I believe it’s what God is calling me to do so I know He will provide if it’s His plans for me. Will this be uncomfortable? Yes. Will this be easy? Probably not. But can growth and faith come forth any other way? So I set my sails of trust straight toward the winds of change and embrace the new wine skin that the Lord is bringing. Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. –Isaiah 43:18-19