Road to Moldova

Sometimes our journey following the path the Lord is leading us on does not turn out as expected. But that does not mean He isn’t in it.

On July 9, I left Asheville, NC for a mission trip to Moldova. The first leg of the journey was driving to Raleigh to meet up with the other four team members, which I had never met. It was rainy with storms. 55 miles out from Raleigh, we experienced a flat tire. My husband was a trooper, changing the tire in the rain and finding somewhere to hopefully repair it. Unfortunately, it was not repairable and he had to drive back to Asheville on the donut spare. Thankfully, he made it safely. Meanwhile, when I messaged team members what was happening, one of them offered to pick me up. Upon arriving at airport, we discover the flight has been delayed due to weather and staffing issues. We finally make it on a flight to our first destination, Boston, but too late to make connecting flight to Istanbul, Turkey. The following day was spent trying to get on the flight leaving July 10. There were plenty of seats available for Istanbul leg of trip but only four for Chișinău, Moldova. So the rest of the team left July 10 and I spent the night in Boston flying out tonight. Traveling by myself. I’m a bit nervous but know the Lord is with me. “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8.

As I am waiting to continue my journey, I have been seeking the Lord and spending time with Him. I started by seeking His reassurances that I am going where He is leading and seeking peace. However, He showed me some lessons I needed to learn and be reminded of. Through a small devotional, God is like a Geyser, He spoke to me. The book begins by the story of waiting for Steamboat Geyser to erupt. It is the most spectacular geyser in Yellowstone National Park, but unpredictable and historically could go very long periods of time between eruptions. Like 20 years or more. Recently, it has begun to erupt more frequently. The book tells the story of a young man who sacrificed his days off as well as physical comforts to wait for an eruption. And he was rewarded by a spectacular performance! The author asked, “How many of us Christ-followers can say we’ve waited on God, honestly waited on God. Not waiting while you live your daily life, but a radical abandonment of everyday life in the hopes of seeing God, waiting in faith for a miracle.” Wow! That got my attention. I recognize that this time of being set on the sidelines to wait is what I needed. I needed God to call my attention to my sin of pride and self. My walk of missions is not about me. This lesson was for me, not the team. And I needed to repent before moving on, and turn my focus toward Jesus. As I am waiting for the next step in my journey (I am writing this while waiting in the Boston airport for my flight to Istanbul to join the team.), I reflect that I am waiting on God and waiting on something spectacular.

The second lesson He showed me is reminding me He is always faithful, but it may not happen like we expect or desire it to. To quote the devotion book, “ God’s people were hungry, thirsty, lost, and confused. They had been brought out of Egypt, a place of slavery, death, and imprisonment, but now they worried whether the God who delivered them out of Egypt would be faithful in keeping them alive in the dessert. The Israelites knew God could do amazing things, turning water into blood, parting the Red Sea, but unlike those miracles, feeding them wouldn’t be a one time miracle. It would be a consistent and faithful miracle. Was their God not just powerful but also faithful? Would He choose to show up time and time again?”. Well, He did and He did provide. As I was reading about the provision of manna, I thought, “ I bet He didn’t provide like they envisioned. Like they may have desired.” My mission trip so far has not turned out as I envisioned or desired but the Lord is definitely here and He is providing.

When our journey is not what we expected or envisioned, remember God is faithful and He will provide. Wait for Him. He may show up in a spectacular way! I am anticipating Him doing something spectacular in Moldova.