When Hope Disappoints
For the past few months, I've been seeing a homoeopath in hopes of finding a natural remedy to cure all my ills. When you live each day in pain that affects your mood, energy levels, and focus, you grow desperate for answers. So, I reached out to a local homoeopath.
The first treatment she prescribed did wonders. I felt like a different person. My pain was drastically lessened. My mood was greatly improved. My energy level wasn't exactly through the roof, but it was far better than it had been in a long time. Yup, for about two weeks, I felt like I was on Cloud Nine.
But, slowly, my symptoms began to return. We tried adjusting the dosage, but that seemed to only cause issues with my sleep patterns. From there, we tried a different treatment that not only didn't help but seemed to send me back to where I was from the very beginning.
The Illusion of Greener Pastures
Have you ever driven by a sheep farm and seen those silly sheep with their heads stuck through the fence, munching away at the grass on the other side? I see it all the time here in Wales, and it always makes me chuckle. I mean, come on, sheep! The grass is the same on your side of the fence. But for some reason, the stuff just out of reach always seems greener, doesn't it?
As humans, we're not that different from those woolly creatures, are we? We've got this bad habit of ignoring the blessings right in front of us and instead reaching for things that are out of our grasp. We're never quite satisfied with what we have.
Finding Courage in Unseen Allies
Do you ever feel like the lone voice crying in the wilderness? In 1 Kings 19, the bold prophet Elijah despaired that despite his faithful efforts, rampant idolatry prevailed. With wicked queen Jezebel threatening his life after an intense showdown with her false prophets, Elijah fled in fear, feeling alone in the spiritual fight.
Exhausted and afraid for his life, Elijah collapsed under a desert tree, begging God to let him die. Right there, we see a mighty man of God reduced to hopeless tears by isolation and weariness in well-doing. Elijah lamented, “I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away” (v. 10).
Hope for the Heavy Heart
Some of you have probably wondered where I’ve been and why I haven’t been writing. It’s quite a long story, so let me sum it up the best I can. In the past three weeks, our entire ministry team has been sick with the flu. Tennille and I finished preparing for and hosted the annual ladies’ retreat with nearly 60 ladies in attendance for the week. Jason celebrated his birthday. And we’ve been finding and setting up a new sponsorship in Wales after finding out that the church hosting us was told they no longer qualified. Yes, due to some weird changes in the wording of the laws regarding sponsorship, our sponsorship was revoked, making our visas invalid.