Peace

And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

These past few days in Jos we have had rumors of more violence. It resurfaced some of my fears and motivated me to be more ready in the midst of it.

Yet it was still a challenge to focus on the tasks demanding my attention. As I sat at my desk in my classroom, trying to focus on marking papers before my next lesson, I had to stop and pray; then this verse came to mind.

The passage begins with, "Rejoice in the Lord always...have no anxiety about anything..." and ends with the verse above. In the past it was the other verses that claimed my attention, but with the rumors flying the words of peace were given new meaning.

I remember hearing a story when I first arrived in Nigeria on the heels of a similar crisis that hit Kano in 1990. One of the missionaries gave the following account. After the crisis he met a Muslim that he had known for some time and asked him about the crisis. The man admitted that they had been on their way to burn down his compound when they had turned and saw smoke rising as if it was already burning. It wasn't until the fighting had stopped that they realized otherwise.

This story has prompted me to pray for angels with flaming swords to stand on our compound walls and provide similar protection. I am realizing more and more that God can deliver peace in ways that no human mind can understand.

As humans, we want to retaliate. Even people who have preached peace begin to say, "It is enough!" Some churches have been burned several times over the years. When destruction and loss of life has no rhyme or reason it becomes harder to preach peace and yet we have to remember that God's ways are not the world's ways.

These days I pray more and more for this kind of peace. I don't need to understand it, but I do claim it!

I saw another need for this kind of prayer yesterday when one student came in full of anger, annoyance, and frustration claiming he was going to quit school before he hurt someone! It is so easy to fall into traps of anger when we feel slighted or misunderstood. I pray for God's peace to enter the heart of my student too. May you too join me in my prayer for God's peace wherever and whenever you see the need for it.

Oh, soon I have my next women's fellowship meeting. We were only five last week, but again the bonds of connection were made stronger as we realized none of us had ever been in a church group like it. I had thought it was only me! I will share this message with them today and pray that it will also strengthen them and give them a sense of calm and hope in our city Jos.

GOING OUT OF THE BOX

Today I joined the Women's Fellowship gourp in the Nigerian church. After almost thirteen years of being married here, it is high time I did, but it never felt right until now.

The church we attend now is a fairly new congregation and the only one in the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria that uses English alone for worship services and meetings. The combination and the new congregation and not having to deal with the language challenges makes me interested this time. So when one of the older women challenged us to finally form the group, it seemed right.

There are several other factors that also help make it seem right. First of all, God has been sending me several reminders these past years that I need to strengthen my committment to my local church and make attendence and involvement a bigger issue.

Another factor is that several of the other women, we are only eight at the moment, are also professional women who are very busy with work so I can't use my own work as an excuse this time around.

Plus, it really helps that we can all speak English and have post secondary education. I think I can connect with these women.

At the same time I am a bit nervous. We are planning to meet every Saturday from 8:45-10:00 AM. I am fortunate that we meet very close by so it is just a short walk to the meetings, but I have liked not having to rush off on Saturday mornings!

No matter, I think I am ready for this part of my Nigerian journey and God has been preparing me for this for two or three years so I am ready as I'll ever be.
Stretchin myslef out also makes me a little nervous, but I have to trust God that it will be a good experience. This makes three fellowship groups I am in. One that meets after school is also every week, but the other is one Saturday a month.I'll keep you posted about how the group is.

I guess I am a little excited. My question for you today is to ask YOU how God is challenging you to stretch your committment in the larger Christian family. Are you accepting His challenge????? If so, I pray God will give you courage and bring many blessings your way!

Dorthea

Back in Jos

There are many titles I could use for today's blog, Had I been able to change they type setting in the title I would have called this,

"Afraid?" Give it to God...

Earlier this week I was contemplating our return to Jos and the tears started falling. As is often the case, it was late at night and everyone else was fast asleep so it was just me and God.

I had been reading a book by Lori Wick, Every Storm and was reminded of God's steadfastness. "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold in my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1 The passage goes on to describe those that might be after us and the writer offers shouts of joy knowing that, "he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble..." verse 5a.

Claiming these verses gave me peace. That idea of peace continues to be on the forefront of my mind and I can see it is on the mind of many.

How many are not living in peace right now? My husband is hoping to travel to Israel soon; as I write this I hear the news of Israel and Palestine. I pray for peace there.

I have not been following much news lately, but I read that in my home state there are many fearing floods; the elements too can create fear in our hearts.

Life is so unpredictable that I am reassured to seek peace and protection in God's shelter. I have always felt I could trust God with my life and He has so often given me courage, I should say, COURAGE! I have put him to the test so many times in the past years, not just the eighteen that I have spent in Nigeria, but even as a child when life's challenges seemed too great for me, He was there reminding me of the price he paid on Calvary and that if He could rise up from the cross, I too can rise up from whatever happens to me.

There is a lot of Peace in the Promise of His Love! Sharing love can bring a lot of peace, but persnally Knowing the Source of that Love clears the worry and stress that tries to cloud my vision. When my tears stop falling and my vision clears, His Presence is always clearer and I thank and praise Him for the assurance He offers. God is Peace and through Jesus Christ there is joy no matter what happens to us!

May you too know His Peace and Trust His Steadfastness!

Dorthea