Living in the Light of God's Love

I lament that I do not live every moment in the light of God's love. I try too often to live by my own strength as I try to gain some status in this world or attempt to "fix" it. And I allow the cares of the world to overcome me, forgetting that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving!

But I am encouraged by my friends William and Larisa, who are back in the United States after another year abroad as missionaries. They truly live in the light of God's love. Sometimes they arrive in a city not knowing where their family will sleep that night, and a person offers them a place to stay. They share the message of the cross in countries that are not always open to the Gospel, but they know that every meeting, be it with a taxi-driver or an old friend, is by God's divine appointment. Every breath they breath is God-given, and every step they take is God-directed. They don't do anything on their own strength!

I want to share with you an e-mail I received this morning from Larisa, who had just traveled to Florida with three of their six children. This is just one of many examples of my friends' great faith.

Merry Christmas!  I, Larisa, just got back from an amazing, God-ordained time in Florida. God allowed me to share some of the great things He has been doing overseas with a large Community Bible study group and with the chapel service at Teen Missions Int'l. 

There is a verse in Psalm 68:20 that says, "God is to us a God of deliverances; And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death."

God just gave us ANOTHER escape from death.  We have had so many hair raising events and yet God has just sent His angels again and again to rescue our lives from destruction.

We had to use a loaner car seat from United as they sent ours to the wrong destination.  The car seat they gave us was a bit too small, so on the airporter bus I let my one-year-old stand up a bit as she had been sitting in a stroller, car seat, and plane for about 18 hours.  When she fell asleep, I set her in her car seat beside me on the bus and almost didn't buckle her.  God led me to buckle her even though the top straps were so tight I couldn't slip my fingers under them.

As I was carrying her in her car seat down the stairs of the bus, a man insisted on taking it out of my hands.  When he started down the steps he slipped and the whole car seat fell upside down and he just had a hold of the bottom.  If I had just set my daughter in the car seat and had not buckled her chest strap, she would have fallen almost 5 feet down landing on the top of her head on cement.  God rescued her from another super close call with death.

My mind keeps going back and forth from praise to God for this rescue to terror and shock at how close we came to losing her.  For those of you who don't know our youngest, she is such an extremely  joyful, patient, longsuffering and content baby.  She is so patient through hours and hours of travel and just grins and claps her hands and smiles at everyone around.  She has been in 10 countries and been held and loved by people from many, many nationalities.

Thanks again for your prayers.  God has opened so many amazing opportunities to ministry to us and at the same time it seems the evil one is trying hard to kill and destroy us. I had shared the Gospel with a man from Lebanon just before this happened.  God has given so many radical rescues from death.  Praise to our Mighty God who is NEAR!

When I read this, I thought of my own little baby, and I know that I should never take her safety and health for granted. Everything I have, from my health, to my family and friends, to my husband's job, to my home, is a gift fromGod. There is no "luck" or "hard work" involved. And everything I do can be for His glory, if I remember that I live in the light of God's love.

Please take a moment to pray for my friends William and Larisa and their six children as they prepare to return to the Middle East and Europe in January to continue spreading the Good News!