{About the photos: This is pastor Pedro, who has weathered some storms in his own life. He pastors in the mountains of Oaxaca where we are building a church for his congregation. He lives in a tiny house where he and his wife sleep on a small cot, while his four children sleep on the floor. Their kitchen stove is not much more than a campfire, using wood and open flame to cook for the family.]
Dear friends of Mexico Ministries:
The end of February has arrived and it has already been a busy year in Mexico. In January I traveled back to Tuxtepec helping kick off what I believe will be another great year of expanding God’s kingdom in that part of Mexico. The first thing I did was check on the new water well to make sure it was operating correctly and producing good water. Then, we purchased a new 4x4 pickup truck for the ministry there, and went into the mountains to check on the construction progress of a new church. Finally, we also looked at several new sites where people are waiting for us to help build new churches.
As I travel and minister to people who are among the poor and suffering, I am troubled by a change in theology that I am hearing back in the U.S. The idea is that because God is love, nothing will ever go wrong in life, and there will always be an abundance; it will be, as the saying goes, “smooth sailing.” But sometimes storms arise and our days are not all sunshine. What happens when the storms come? Some will blame the preacher, some will blame the church, some will even blame God. But God is God before the storm, He is God during the storm, and He will be God after the storm. We can’t be guaranteed no storms, but we can be promised that the unchanging Lord will be with us through them.
The Bible recounts the story of a man named Job, who was blameless, upright, God-fearing, and who shunned evil. He had great wealth, a wonderful family, and was held in high esteem by those who knew him. Clearly, God was in his life. Then the storm hit and Job lost literally everything - his family, his wealth, even his health. But God was still with him in the midst of the storm. In the end, God restored to Job all that the storm had taken, and he lived to be an old man seeing four generations of offspring carry on his dynasty. God was with Job after the storm.
Please don’t fall for the false promise that everything will always go wonderfully in your life. There will be storms, and if you are convinced there won’t, you will some day be sorely disappointed and even have your faith shaken. There will be storms, but put your trust in the Lord who promises he will never leave you nor forsake you.
Larry
God bless you,