For those less familiar with cross-cultural missions, it may be surprising to read that it is normal for missionaries to hit a very low point after being on the field between nine and eighteen months. By this time, the honeymoon phase has worn off, culture shock is peaking, the work you envisioned yourself doing faces challenges (or completed changes), and well, reality sets in. For our family, this hit us after being on the field for 10 months.
I battled an ear infection for an entire month. Our family was hit with malaria for the first time. One of my boys was bit by an unidentifiable snake (and, praise God, lived to tell the tale). All of this happened in the same month, compounded by the typical day-to-day challenges and seemingly endless questions about why I wasn’t speaking Arabic fluently yet. And the termites – oh, the termites. They were – and still are – relentless.
We left our primary area of service for a scheduled resupply trip, hoping a couple of weeks out would bring us perspective. But after our return, the following two months came with what seemed like constant illness and a lack of clarity about how to move forward helping the people we came to serve engage with Scripture. Toward the end of those two months, we had to figure out how to host a young visiting family considering serving on our team without allowing our discouragement and confusion to rub off on them.
Knowing our season of discouragement was considered “normal” helped keep it in perspective. But the feelings were real and overwhelming at times, nonetheless. And it wasn’t just my husband and I – our two little men were impacted by these feelings to. They always wondered if the next airplane ride would take us back to the Pacific Northwest.
Ecclesiastes can feel like a melancholy read, but it happens to be one of my favorite books of the Bible. It reminds us there is a time for everything, which includes stress and discouragement.
I think of Luke’s description of Jesus on the Mount of Olives:
[He prayed], “‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground,” (Luke 22:42-44, NIV, emphasis added).
Jesus was facing so much stress, knowing what was to come, that he was sweating blood. This is far greater stress than I have ever experienced. The author of Hebrews elaborates this point:
“…since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16, NIV).
Phil Wickham has a song in which he sings, “Friday’s good ’cause Sunday is comin’.” Many men were crucified on the cross, but Jesus was the only one to rise, three days later. Jesus was the only perfect sacrifice. Jesus was the only one to atone for the sins of the world. Despite Jesus’s discouragement just hours before his death, He pressed on and died for us while we were still sinners, out of His great love for us (Romans 5:8)! But the story didn’t end there. Paul writes, “…if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile…” (1 Corinthians 15:17, ESV). Jesus resurrected and ascended back into heaven. And that is why we approach the throne with confidence in our time of need. Yes and Amen!
Ecclesiastes also reminds us of God’s holiness and sovereignty, and “that whatever God does endures forever,” (Ecclesiastes 3:14, ESV). It reminds us of the vanity found in worldly pursuits that tempt us, imploring us to, “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind” (Ecclesiastes 12:13, NIV, emphasis added). Jesus is our anchor in stormy seas, allowing us to perform this duty even when the waters rage.
Friend, are you in dark, Friday season? Are you struggling to have faith that God will make everything beautiful in His time? Are you struggling with doubt and discouragement? Bring it all to Jesus. Meditate on what is true, honorable, just, pure, commendable, and lovely (Philippians 4:8). Think about these things with thanksgiving and praise in your hearts. Think about the cross. Think about the empty tomb. Your Friday is real. And Sunday is coming.
“God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end,” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NLT).
Faithfully,
Joy From Fear 