"Rejoice, you are a threat." Interesting choice for a family motto, eh?

That's not exactly a phrase you hear everyday. But it's been Paige, Jojo, and I's enduring family motto for the last several months.  When Paige and I made the commitment to serve in South Africa and Greece with the International Sports Federation, a wealth of emotions ensued. Excitement, nervousness, anticipation, worries, fears, questions, and peace all swirled about. The key one there in that list is peace. We have been learning that amongst the chaos, peace can not only survive, it can thrive. Now how the heck does that make sense?  Everlasting assurance. 

Anyone who knows me well knows I am goals-driven. I work hard to make my dreams happen. Dreams don't come true. They are made true. Being "Brass Tacks Ben" does have its strengths and positives: I get the job done, work hard to make it so, and strive to do so in the best ways possible. However, a strength in excess is a weakness. 

And one of my own is self-reliance. I make a lot of goals, to-dos, and plans. Sometimes, they work out just as I had intended. Most of the time though, things go "awry," and adaptation isn't always my strong suit. Sure, I can roll with the punches with the right attitude, but sometimes I lean into them too hard. Or, I get lazy and don't focus on what's truly most important. I get bent out of shape because what I worked so hard on, isn't working out. It's times like these where a recent golden nugget was given to me that rings loudly: If things work out the way we plan, how would we ever see God's work in motion? 

Everlasting assurance is not the guarantee that our dreams, goals, relationships, jobs, and lives will work out the way we hope. Or even happily at all. What everlasting assurance is, is the promise that we are eternally loved by a God who is always prepared to welcome us. God is always ready for us. The Lord does not let us down. Oh yea, God can be confusing, sometimes maddeningly so, and certainly lets us live and suffer consequences...sometimes ones that aren't even our fault. But, at the end of the day, Paige and I truly know that when we are at our best and brightest, or our lowest and darkest, Jesus is there. 

What is crucial to understand is that where light shines, there is a darkness ready and willing to snuff it out.  Readers, I must say, the journey has been hard sometimes. Immediately after our commitment, Paige, Jojo, and I were body slammed. Quite literally. Week after week, we three have endured a version of musical chairs. Only this time we are trading places for who is sick this time. Paige would be really sick for a week. Then myself. Then Jojo. And repeat. It was so tiresome. Our hearts and bodies were worn out. We knew we were being attacked. And the attacks kept coming.

A few weeks ago, I got hammered with Covid-19. Sure enough, Paige and Jojo followed suit. It has not been easy in recovery. Thankfully, we are healing. What was so telling to me was literally right after Paige and I had a wonderful call with Pastor Brian and Glenda in South Africa, we came down with Covid after no known exposures. Although our bodies took another beating, we knew: this really is a fight. Evil wanted us to have no momentum. It doesn't end there. 

Uncertainty is a tough nemesis. Doubts creep in. Will Jojo respond well to living in an entirely different culture? Will there be an emergency and we can't find help? Will we be able to raise enough financial support to make this happen? Are there enough people who believe in this opportunity?  Those questions have some validity. But, they're not the right questions. You see, those all depend on "us." It's people-focused, not God-focused. I won't sugarcoat it: things may go awry and disasters may strike. We call that: life. But, we have the everlasting assurance that God called us to this opportunity so that no matter what does or does not happen, we know we are living in obedience to the Lord. It is because of this obedience that we are being attacked. Evil does not want goodness to triumph. And it will do anything and everything it can to strike us down. It can be a formidable opponent.

  We must respect the capacity of our opponents. 

And right now, Paige and I are learning how much capacity we have as opponents against evil. In Acts 28:26 of the Bible, the author writes, "You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving." What an awful way to live is one of my first thoughts. Furthermore, it teaches me that when God speaks, I better listen. Now, I'm not one who believes every bad thing in life is the result of sin and evil. But, I do believe when we open our hearts and truly listen, we will discover ourselves experiencing more certainty and peace in our lives even when all around us is chaotic. It truly shows we can rejoice that we are threats to the darkness that does not want communities united, hearts of caring and service, and smiles shared. My encouragement to you, is to remember that when you are feeling beat down, do a "soul check" and maybe, just maybe, you'll find that you can rejoice because you're a threat to evil. And a gift to what is good.