[About the photos: While I am unable to return to Mexico during the lockdown, the churches are in the capable hands of the many leaders there. Here are some of them: Carlos Tovilla, Alejandro Hernandez, and Cesar Osario.]
Dear friends of Mexico Ministries:
I pray that all is well with you and your’s as our nation and world try to slowly return to normal. Of course, that will take hard work, time, and prayer - and we aren’t sure what the new normal will look like exactly. Now is a time for some personal reflection on how we have lived, are living, and will live our lives. Are we totally satisfied with who we are, or if we could do it all over again, would we make any changes?
As a younger man, my answer to that question was always, “I wouldn’t change a thing!” Of course, that was pride speaking, not wisdom. Now that my hair is whiter and thinner, my answer is, “I would change almost everything!” I have been reflecting on my life, and on the life of men in the Bible, and have asked myself the question, if I could do it all over again, who would I most like to imitate. The obvious answer is Jesus - he is the one we all strive to be like. But I think Joseph would also be my choice. Think of all he went through: losing his mother at a young age, as a teenager being sold into slavery by his half brothers, falsely accused of attempted rape by his owner’s wife, tossed into jail for two years and forgotten by those who promised to remember him. And then the glorious things: elevated to second in command under Pharaoh (at the ripe age of 30!), reunited with his treacherous half brothers and saving them during a time of famine - not filled with anger, but with love: “Be not angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.”
Joseph had two sons; the first he named Manasseh which means “to forget,” because, Jospeh said, “God has made me forget all my troubles and my father’s household.” The second he called Ephraim, which means “fruitful,” and he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my afflictions.”
Joseph lived to be 110 years old, and I can find NO PLACE in Scripture where he ever blamed God or anyone else for the difficulties he endured. Instead, he trusted in God through the bad times and the good. Oh that my own life would reflect that trust and lack of complaining. I am an old man now, but Joseph is my model now! May the Lord grant me his qualities as I serve Him for the rest of my days.
And may God grant those qualities to you too - that through this difficult time, we not lose trust in the Lord, nor place blame on Him or others. Instead, let us look for His hand at work in our lives. And while we are at it, never forget the poor, the hungry, and those in need - in Mexico, in our own communities, and throughout the world. May the Lord raise up among us new Josephs who will forget all our troubles and be fruitful in His Kingdom!
God bless you,
Larry