A cup filling, content gathering success

One week back in Perth… my head is still spinning, my heart is still marvelling at the powerful ways God is working to grow His Kingdom. 8 days didn’t seem like nearly enough, but our time in Bali was spent snuggling “unwanted” babies (although there is no such thing), playing with kids who had suffered abuse at the hands of their parents instead of enjoying nurture, showing up for and praying with people living with HIV. Fellowshipping with our Bali church family – brothers and sisters in Christ. Smiles, hugs, handshakes, high fives, stickers, teddies and Caramello Koalas go a long way to bridging the language barrier between Aussies and Balinese!

While enjoying this trip I was able to gather plenty of content for the book – praise God! We were kept very busy doing ministry visitations and loved every minute of it. We also managed to sneak in a few massages and some time in the pool which was a blessing in itself. Making the most of many hours spent in the car going from place to place, I recorded a lot of conversations and am now working my way through the audio files. The location we stayed at was outside the regular tourist area and absolutely teemed with wildlife. From frogs, centipedes, butterflies and geckos (and that’s just in our bathroom) to roosters, bats, ducks and dogs (thankfully not in our bathroom). Creatures were everywhere!

Our accommodation overlooked an expansive rice field. I must admit my shoulders drooped momentarily in disappointment at the scene before me. The hotel website featured an image of a sparkling pool with beanbags and umbrellas with a backdrop of dense, lush green crops of rice. We arrived to a rather different backdrop – a field of knee-high beige, dry, lifeless stalks, their heads of rice recently harvested. Oh – it’s the Temu version. But God in His goodness was quick to remind me that things that may appear lovely to the eye are not always as valuable as they seem. The rice field in the photo on the website in its green, not quite ready state – while on all accounts visually beautiful, was actually useless for it’s primary purpose of being a food source, as the heads of rice had not yet developed.

God was quick to guide and redirect my thoughts. I love how he does that! I was led to think of the Christian life. Sometimes, in fact in my experience most times, it’s the seasons that appear to be dry, baren and lacking beauty that God does his best work. This is the time we come to the end of ourselves. We’ve done the striving. Lent into the self-reliance. Fooled ourselves to think pride is an issue others face and not us. If only we were quick to realise that the end of ourselves is in fact the beginning of God. John 3:30 says He must increase, I must decrease. Surrender is the ultimate solution.

We watched on over the following week as the remnant of the rice field was slashed, heaped up and burned in preparation for a new season. I remembered how God is always at work in us. It’s in the painful seasons of life where our fruit (or rice) is matured, revealed, harvested and used for the benefit of others, the good of ourselves and most importantly, the glory of God!

I'd love to hear your thoughts.