We find in Romans 8 that God works all things to good to those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose. The “good” mentioned in this chapter is often misunderstood as what I perceive as for my good.
But the “good” that God is discussing is defined for us in the next verse as shaping us into the image of His Son. God sends us people and circumstances to make us more like Jesus Christ. The situation of waiting on other people without any assurance of what their decision would be was exactly the circumstances that God needed to conform me to the image of Jesus, remaking my character to be more like the character of our Savior.
Also, God was teaching me to trust His leading. During times of temptation and doubt, I kept repeating to myself a phrase that I had heard someone else say, “Never doubt in the darkness what God has called you to do in the light.” I knew that God had brought me in Mongolia. I was convinced that God wanted me to start a church in Mongolia. I was certain that He had led my parents to come assist us. I had no doubt that I was to order a container of wood and tools. Each part of the plan that seemed so fruitless, I knew God wanted me to do.
I do not say that to insist that all these plans work out the way that I was intending them to come to pass. I was fully prepared to accept that God may lead me along a certain path only to change my direction before those plans came to fulfillment. Throughout life, I have noted that a mistake some Christians make is to refuse to accept that God is changing their path. They erroneously assume that God will bring all their plans to pass before He moves them on in another direction.
My God was conforming me to the image of His Son, building my faith, and teaching me to walk in His way even though I could not see the end of my path. I learned trust, patience, diligence even when there is no assurance that there will be fruit for my labor.
One morning this past week, I walked into the Mongolian office for dealing with the questions relating to foreign citizens. I have never been calm before when I have visited that office to renew my residency permission. In fact, the week before I had visited that office to register my parents arrival in Mongolia and had been nervous even knowing that what I was asking for was a standard procedure. The temptation to recall all the hindrances to renewing my residency permission was there.
But this morning I was calm and confident. I knew God wanted me to apply for a residency permission. If they denied it or if they insisted that they needed to do an internal investigation, I was confident that God’s plan would be revealed to me as I simply took the next step. This was the next step for me.
I had my father and my accountant with me. My father is my shadow during his time in Mongolia. My accountant was with me to answer any questions about my company’s work in Mongolia. We had prayed before we left that God would guide our path, and therefore I had no doubt that God was guiding us.
We took a number and had about 30 people ahead of us. There was paperwork to fill out and so we began to fill out the paperwork while we waited. We needed a few copies and had those done. Sometimes that numbers would come up quickly and sometimes there would be a lull as the available immigration officers dealt with the foreign citizens.
It took us about forty minutes to fill out our paperwork. We were down to some final copies when the man who was at the copy machine disappeared. Just at that time, the numbers started to come up quickly again. I prayed a short prayer, “Lord, please keep our number from coming up before we are completely prepared.” The man at the copy machine returned, we received the final few copies, and we still had two people in front of us.
Within a minute or two of completing our final preparations, our number was called. The Lord had caused the completion of our paperwork and the calling of our number to occur at a most welcome time.
We moved to the window, answered a few questions, and began to give our officer the documents and forms as she required them of us. She assured us that our applications for extending our residency permission would be accepted but that I needed to bring in the whole family. The government of Mongolia was instituting a new system that required all foreign nationals residing in Mongolia for more than a year to give their fingerprints and have their picture taken. (A passport photo was already required to be attached to our residency permission request application, but the office wanted us to come in person also to have pictures taken.)
I called ahead, and my family was waiting for me when I arrived back home. I packed them all up, left my father behind, and returned to the office for dealing with the questions relating to foreign citizens. We stood in line for the pictures and fingerprinting and re-submitted our paperwork to our assigned officer. She accepted the paperwork & passports and told us to return the following week to pick up our passports.
Then in a providential show of God’s humor, I arrived home to find that my container from China was scheduled to be packed the next day. Two answers to prayer in one day! God could have given those answers at any time, but to better shape my character after the character of His Son He had waited and given me two answers in one day.
So the next time you are tempted to worry, to fret, to doubt, remember to be patient, trust God, and keep working. His plan is so much bigger than ours.
One of the greatest difficulties of serving the Lord in a foreign country is separation from family. But this Mother's Day God blessed us with a visit from my mother and father. This is the first time that my mother has ever been in Mongolia for Mother's Day. Not that I'm complaining; there are some missionaries who probably have never been with their mother in a foreign country on Mother's Day.
Some people dream of a white Christmas. Here in Mongolia some may be dreaming of a white Mother's Day. We had a couple of inches of snow fall today. More snow tomorrow?
