God is good all the time. What a fantastic concept! But that’s just the thing, it’s so much more a concept, it‘s a truth!
If I’m being honest, when I arrived to Costia Rica I was a big mess. Even though this is exactly what I had been waiting for for so long, and even though I had been fervently praying about our time here for what seems like years, i was still struck with grief and pain. Literally all i wanted to do was cry, which was not at all what i expected my first time leaving the country to look like. This is not what i expected being an international missionary would look like. And even though the pain was the last thing i wanted, the Lord revealed to me just how precious that pain was.
”for it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.” 1 Peter 3:17
This suffering I was going through was because the Lord wanted to break down my walls and invade my heart in new ways. It came because I am asking the Lord to purge me of my worldly flesh. Refinement isn’t quick and easy. It’s beautful and painful, it‘s patient and intense, and it‘s righteous and holy. Not because what we’re giving up to the Lord is righteous and holy, but because of what the Lord is giving to us is perfect and complete! I’m not trying to say that living your life for Christ means that it’s all pain and suffering, but instead it’s knowing that when we are in pain, we get to choose to lean back into the loving arms of our beautiful savior. We’re resting in the Lord’s promise that when we are weak HE is strong!
I love the song “graves into gardens“ so much because it paints this picture so beautifully:
To show You my weakness
My failures and flaws
Lord, You’ve seen them all
And You still call me friend
Is the God of the valley
There’s not a place
Your mercy and grace
Won’t find me again
Clayton,
Thank you for opening your heart to serve others and go where you are being called.
Praying for you and your team, and that you continue to see God’s faithfulness in all of it.
Clayton,
Thank you for sharing. So beautifully written. I will be praying that God moves miraculously in and through you, Continue to lean on Him, and your teammates and squad. You are in good company!
Shuree (Alex Ramirez’s mom)