Cliff Jumping

Six days until I take-off for Ghana, Africa for the entirety of June and July! I'm excited, but also, I kind of feel like I'm about to jump off the edge of a cliff, and I have no idea what is going to be at the bottom!

I don't know what to expect. 

Everything I do expect, I've been told, will not be anything like I've ever imagined.

And I tend to have a pretty good imagination. :)

Which leads me to the verse that God laid on my heart this evening:

"In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps." 
~ Proverbs 16:9

As I related in a recent post, that explains my journey-before-the-journey ("Going to Ghana"), the last eight months especially have been full of huge changes, and God has taught me so much through those experiences. Yes, most of us hate change - but isn't it amazing how God seems to use these situations to grow and mature us sooooo much? :)

So, we're walking along and we have our ideas of how our lives should look, where we're headed, how things are going to be, and how we're going to control things and make everything just right (at least I'M guilty of this kind of thinking). Then BAM! God does His own thing. And it can be painful. It can be REALLY painful. 

Before August 2013, I'd never experienced a crippling depression where I literally couldn't do anything but sit in a corner and cry. I'd never felt stress so hard that I thought my chest was going to explode. I never knew a sadness so intimate where it felt like part of me was being ripped away.

But I look back at these last eight months, and can't imagine where I'd be if I hadn't learned the lessons I've learned THROUGH the change and THROUGH the trials.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." ~ James 1:2-4

I know these next two months are going to be a HUGE time of learning perseverance and growing in my faith - and even if my best plans and imaginations go awry, God is the one who is establishing my steps. He is the one making my paths straight when I trust in Him. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Today, I had an amazing time with a friend who just gotten back from Africa last month. We had such a great time! She gave me so many good ideas and thoughts, and I know both of us walked away encouraged by our time together (Proverbs 27:17). But one of the things she said that really stuck with me was this: that God did not make a mistake when He chose me for this mission.

Yes, we all know God has a purpose for our life (though we often forget it). But not only does He have a purpose - His purpose is good. No mistakes involved. Not even a little.

"If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." ~ Romans 14:8

Maybe some of you are in the same boat as me. You're cliff-jumping, and it's scary, or sad, or nerve-wracking, or exciting, or all of the above! 

Just remember that you are not alone, and you are not a mistake - and that what happens to you is not a mistake. God chose you for an incredible mission, whether in your own backyard or on the other side of the planet. And He's the same God on top of the cliff as well as over the side of the cliff.

Ok...so easy words to write, think, and believe. Now time to live them out. 

And take the leap of faith.

~~~~

In Christ,
Ellie Faggion

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