By JungHyun

Read: Leviticus 14:1-57, Mark 6:30-56, Psalm 40:1-10, Proverbs 10:11-12

Relate:
As a missionary kid, I can say that there are lots of good influences from the surroundings, and it feels like they never turn around from God. However, there are troubles that missionaries and their families face, and like other people, missionaries are also human beings, so they do sometimes get tempted to turn away from God, but they know that God will help them out and that he will bless them. As Psalm 40:1-2 says, when we are patient enough to wait for God, he will help us and save us from danger. I came to believe in this because our family has experienced and seen a couple of people around me go through hard times and be tempted to rely on other things, but they ended up trusting God and earning the reward for doing that.

One example is from my dad’s ministry. My dad does a children’s ministry for three to four public Philippine churches one season a year. When I was in fourth grade, as usual, our family was prepared to serve four churches with children’s ministry. However, an unexpected situation occurred and four additional churches were requested and showed interest in the ministry. This was a little bit of a concern for our family since the budget already went over what we had anticipated even before adding those four churches. My dad was stressed and going through a difficult time for more than a month. Nevertheless, our family prayed and prayed nonstop and we were patiently waiting for God’s response. Surprisingly, we were able to earn more than we expected, since various people from Korean churches have donated toward the ministry, and we never asked them for it. After that miraculous thing we experienced, I started trusting God even more, especially when having hard times. As Psalm 40:4 says, “If anyone trusts in the Lord, he blesses them!” Through my experience, I came to believe that God truly blesses his people if we put hope and trust in him.

React:
Psalm 40 has encouraged me to have patience in any situation where I’m facing troubles. After reading this passage, I was so determined to apply this verse in my life by believing that nothing other than the Lord can bring me out of trouble. Never give up on reaching out to God whenever help is needed. Especially as a student who is often overwhelmed by hectic school assignment schedules and exams, this verse has encouraged me to keep on relying on God. As Psalm 40:2 says, “He lifted me out of the deep hole of danger; He picked me up out of the mud. He put my feet on a rock.” He will lift me out of any troubles, and what I learned was that this may not happen all at once. That is why the scripture is saying to be patient and wait till you are blessed by him. I also really want to share and recommend this verse to my friends or neighbors whenever they are facing challenges so that they will experience how great God is and that trusting him will do everything for their troubles.

Respond:

Dear God,
I have learned that you are the greatest through the countless miracles you have shown to your people, so I pray that we will be able to rely on you in any situation, whether it is depressing or joyful, but just help us believe that you are the only one who rewards us and solves our problems. Lastly, God, please make your people spread this amazing message to those who still do not know how great you are. Thank you, Lord, for everything you have done for us, and in Jesus name,
Amen.

Nearly all posts in February and March have as special guest authors the Juniors from the Christian Living class at Faith Academy.