All of God's promises are sure!
"Remain in me and I will remain in you and you will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
It's ok to be different.
"Be still and know that I am God". Psalm 46:10
The tomb is empty!
"Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come." Psalm 71:18
Mai pen rai. Roughly translated it means "never mind". Mai pen rai is the Thai answer to pretty much everything. It's used for "you're welcome", "it's ok", etc. In a culture that values "jai yen", or cool heart, i.e. laid back and relaxed, this phrase is heard quite often. I've heard many a Christian testimony along these lines: Before I knew Christ I was "jai ron" (hot heart, i.e. frustrated/upset/angry) quite often, but now that I know Jesus, I am jai yen. Upon sharing a personal struggle with a Thai friend, it can be disconcerting to hear "mai pen rai". End of story, next subject. But, I must say that other than "Praise God" mai pen rai is now probably the one Thai phrase that comes out of my mouth the most.
This week as I was reflecting on my time in Thailand, especially this last year, I can see God working in my life in many ways that I never realized before. There are many everyday things that I used to freak out about and many long standing hurts that I can honestly say from my heart....mai pen rai. I can say this because God has healed my heart, because I'm learning to struggle less in and of myself and more in my prayer life. The battle we fight is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers and authorities of this dark world. I believe one reason why we're not seeing victory over personal sins and past hurts is because we're not spending TIME with God. We think that if we come to Him a few times for a few minutes, He must do what we ask. But we don't KEEP ON crying and praying and seeking and knocking and asking. I shared in a recent prayer letter about a situation in which I literally spent 3 days crying before the Lord. And God changed my heart, not the circumstances. After those 3 days, I could honestly say mai pen rai. Why? Because it honestly wasn't an issue for me anymore. God had changed my heart. I was just chatting on FB with a former student who used to live at the boys house in Chiang Khong. He told me to drive carefully and not to cry. It used to be an on-going joke because one time I was trying to back the truck up in a narrow alley that was only slightly wider than the truck. I was scared and started to cry. The students thought that was hysterical. As I was typing "HAHAHAHA" I realized that getting into tight spots while driving in Thailand no longer freaks me out like it used to. I can say "mai pen rai". God is with us. He's still in control. We give lip service to that, but do we really mean it? We tend to live our lives like we ourselves are in control. When things don't go according to OUR plan, OUR schedule, OUR wants/desires, we get frustrated with God. When others don't do what they're supposed to, when others hurt us, we keep it inside or we turn to anything and everything except God. You see, praying is not necessarily to make God do something, but it changes us, from the core of our being to be more like Jesus. And that glorifies God.
