April 2020 – Note from Sammy

   Like presumably most people, this has been a soul-searching season for me. We all stay busy in our regular and normal life routines – wake up, devotional/prayer, perhaps workout, get ready, have breakfast, commute to work (or walk to our “home office” in the next room), enjoy a cup of coffee, tea, or soda while we work, make phone calls, then more work, take a lunch-break, then back to work for several more hours, head home, have dinner, watch television, visit with your significant other, devotional/prayer, sleep… Repeat! We have had our own course of daily life all “planned”, established and imprinted in our hearts and minds.

    Suddenly, recently, that order of our daily “steps” took an unexpected turn that has required a significant change of our course. We are now having to get accustomed to a new normal caused by the novel virus, COVID-19. Daily habits have changed and enforced. The virus has claimed thousands of lives worldwide. Thousands of people around the globe are grieving and mourning loss of loved ones. Our hearth reach out to them and pray for peace and comfort that only the Lord can provide.

    What a difference in our planned course of life something that’s invisible to the human eye (unlike the plagues of Egypt – Exodus 7-11) can make in such a short period of time! Where do we turn in a time life this? Medical Science? Insurance? Finances? Family? Friends? Politics? News Media? God?

    King Solomon wrote, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps” (Prov. 16:9). He also wrote, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Prov. 3:5,6).

    Does God expect us to plan? Yes, He does – Prov. 6:6-8; 21:5; Lk. 14:28. Does God expect us to understand, watch, and prepare for potential catastrophes? Yes, He does. – 1 Chron. 12:32; Lk. 21:34-35; Acts 17:30-31; Heb. 11:7. But we must not rely on our plans. As Christians, we are called to surrender any plans we may have established for ourselves to the Lord so He can order the steps ahead of us, steps for which we have zero ability to foresee.

    As you hunker down and learn to adjust to the new normal, I encourage you to take fresh stock of your life, reexamine your own life’s plans, then unabashedly ask yourself, “Are my plans in step with the Lord’s?” “What must I change in my own ways right now so I may find the straight path that the Lord would have me walk the rest of my life?” Take a moment alone with the Lord during this “lockdown” period and choose to take a bold step to step into the Lord’s step for your life. May that step reflect your own personal priority and commitment to “redeem the time” and obey Christ’s Final Mandate to “go and make disciples” right where He has placed you while it’s “called ‘Today’” (Eph. 5:16; Matt. 28:18-20; Heb. 3:13).

    I invite you to join with us in the Share ministry as we do exactly that among the Turkana people of Kenya with great anticipation of that day when “…the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David will open the scroll and its seven seals, where we all join with the angels, the elders, and the living creatures and sing in a loud voice The New Song of the Lamb:

(Rev. 5:9-12)