His purpose will stand

Dear Kimberly,

Turn with me, if you will, to Isaiah 55:9-11. Wait wait wait. I sound like a pastor. Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just that a pastor’s job is to preach and mine is to...think visibly (aka, write stuff). So scratch that. But not all of it. I really do want to look at those verses, but rather than requiring you to B.Y.O.B (bring your own bible) to this little chat, I’ll give you the verses here:

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (NIV). 

I’m pretty sure you’ve heard the part about the word not returning empty (or “void” as we usually say), but how familiar are you with the rest of the passage? I heard the “not return void” part recently at a retreat I attended and realized I had no idea where that verse was in the bible. Was it there at all? Did it really mean what it sounded like it meant? I didn’t know any of the surrounding verses...how could I be sure it was even being used correctly?

After Todd did a word search on his iPod, I read the verse in Isaiah. Isaiah. No wonder I had no idea where it was...my OT familiarity is rough. But as I read, I was struck at how wonderful a passage it really is (no surprise, of course. I mean, it is the bible, after all). It says a lot more about God than the one little phrase “will not return void” lets on. Just look at it. 

• It proves the superiority of God over his creation: “My ways are higher than your ways.”
• It proves God knows vastly more than his creation: “My thoughts [are higher] than your thoughts.”
• It proves that his purposes stand: “...it will not return to me void but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

I do kind of want to focus on the last part, because it is from this section that people usually quote. God’s purpose will be accomplished; the thing he desires will be achieved. That is a very comforting thought, and it reflects that God is an incredibly powerful God. No matter what he has determined, it will happen. It must. He is God and he has complete control over all things. Over ALL things. Think about that. It makes verses like this make complete sense:

“I form the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things” (Is. 45:7, NIV). 

So what is the purpose of God’s word here? He speaks, and we are prospered. He speaks, and we find ourselves in the middle of unimaginable disaster. I use “speak” here figuratively, of course, but the point is that what God has determined for our lives, that he will do. It may look like a blessing, or it may look at a cataclysmic downward spiral. Either way, his purpose will be achieved in our lives. It’s in times like these that the Christian can cling very closely to Romans 8:28. He does work all things out for the good of those who love him, the ones he has called according to his purpose (there’s that word again...). 

I want to give you another verse to think about in regards to this. Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians (or “one Corinthians,” as the people here would usually say):

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (v18, NIV). 

If you keep reading in the book (especially the next two chapters, in my opinion) you will see how the Christian is given such an incredible understanding of God’s word, but it is not something he has on his own. The purpose of God’s word to the believer is power. Christians have such amazing power through the word of God, illuminated and taught to us by the Holy Spirit. It’s really quite remarkable. Praise the Lord, he causes us to grow in this power!

But the word of God serves a dual purpose, according to this verse. It not only serves as power for the believer, but it serves as foolishness for the unbeliever. Please, stop right now and go read 2 Corinthians three and four...it’s more than I want to quote here but it’s relevant to this topic. Unbelievers are blinded, the gospel is veiled. They cannot see it until God opens their eyes. His word is to them foolishness, and this is what he intended. His purpose is always achieved. 

Ok, I’ll stop for now. God has a really massive character, so let’s not bite off more than we can chew. Think about this. Think about him. As you do, I pray that God will give you the Spirit of revelation and wisdom, so that you may know him better (Eph. 1: 17b)

Love, 

Meredith

Culture101

I have been an unofficial South African resident for approximately 65 days now, I think. If my math is correct. I hope most people who know me well know to stop trusting me when I start  delving into the world of numbers, but I’m fairly sure that this is an accurate calculation. 

While we have been living here for over two months, most of that time was spent on the training base. It’s a nice enough place, but very secluded and highly multicultural. It was interesting and fun to be around people from all over the world, but it doesn’t contribute much towards a South African acclimation. 

Now that we’re out in the wide world (and I do mean wide world...I’ve never been a big city girl before), we can finally start learning about our new home! It’s an adventure we’re chomping at the bit to begin, and really have sort of begun. Here are some things I’ve learned about South Africa:

• “Just now” is a term you hear frequently, but it doesn’t mean what you think. The first time I heard it, we’d only been on the base for a few days. One of the other trainees said that she’d see us at dinner “just now.” It sounds straight forward, but we were walking to the dining hall and she was going the other direction. I was thoroughly confused. Upon further exposure to the phrase, I have deduced (and been informed) that “just now” simply means that whatever someone plans to do will get done eventually. It in no way indicates that it will be done immediately. Go figure. 
• Braai (pronounced bry): the term used to describe a South African barbecue, but not with an American- looking grill. The ones I’ve seen have usually been stone with iron grates, and your choice of charcoal or wood (perhaps wood is more common?) is lit beneath the grate. Some of the smaller ones resemble a traditional grill a bit. South Africans are HUGE carnivores...I mean these guys really love their meat. Sausages, chops, steak, it’s all available. I’m more of a chicken-and-fish kinda gal, but I can get into some red meat when I have to :) 
• ZA: South Africa. 
• The Afrikaans tend to be, on average, a bit taller than Americans. This is just my personal observation, mind you, and it’s definitely a generalization. It probably has something to do with their Dutch decent, as the Dutch are among the tallest people in the world (another generalization, but my information comes from a Dutch lady). While we’re on the topic, Todd is of Dutch decent as well (a good example that not all Dutch are towering giants :) ), and a couple of people have picked it out based on our last name. 
• The Afrikaans language has a lot of English similarities (or Engles, as it is in Afrikaans...see, I’m learning!), and Todd and I are trying to pick up a bit. Pretoria has a large Afrikaans population, and on more than one occasion we’ve been approached by someone who proceeded to speak to us in that language. But no worries; they switch seamlessly to English when you respond to them. We haven’t noticed any kind of prejudiced, or hesitancy to use English when needed. 
• Rooibus tea has become a favorite of mine. Rooibus is a plant only harvested in a particular region of South Africa, so I’m told. 
• Related to the tea, there is a delightful little snack that South Africans love to enjoy with their tea and coffee; it’s called a rusk. It’s like a chunky biscotti, for lack of a better description, and it comes in many varieties. I didn’t think I’d like them at first, but now it’s one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast, a rusk dipped in rooibus tea! (I actually don’t advise trying to eat one without dipping it first). It makes me feel like I’m really embracing the culture ;) 
• Todd and I are trying to put forth an effort to adopt some of the English lingo we’ve heard over the past few months: cookies are “biscuits,” fries have *sometimes* become “chips,” and dessert can be referred to as “pudding,” regardless of what it is. It’s hard to be consistent, but we’re trying! 

I don’t want to overwhelm anyone (including myself) with culture...but I am actually kind of excited about learning everything! These are the easy things, of course; we won’t get into currency conversion (there’s an app for that...so much better than the rough estimation we were using!), learning to drive on the other side of the road (be looking for that story “just now” ;) ), and dealing with heatless homes. 

But God has taken good care of us. I confess, I got really stressed out yesterday...we started looking at accommodation online, and most of it didn’t look very promising. I’ve got a brighter perspective this morning, though, and am just praying for him to provide what we need when we need it. He always has before. I think we’ll have many stories of his miraculous provision to share with you all! 

Here's an example of a braai...this is at the MDT base. 

And this doesn't have anything to do with anything; it's just a picture of us at a park we visited a few weeks ago. Carry on. :)