Written in 1980f while living in a Middle Eastern country

“The Lord is my shepherd…He leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.”

Psalm 23:1-3a

“What are you doing now?” asked John as I took a clean sheet of paper from my brief case.

“I’m going to make a list of the new words I learned today,” I replied without looking up. “You said that we may be here a long time and I don’t want to waste the hours!”

John smiled and continued his conversation with the policemen who were holding us under arrest.

This was typical of the need to utilize every opportunity for learning the language of our new country. Since there are only four of us in our group, many tasks fall to us that wouldn’t normally be given to language students. Our goal of 6 hours of study a day is rarely met—personally I felt that 3 hours of book study was enough—but the exposure we got through ministry more than made up for the lack of formal study, for we got to learn new words from the myriad of interesting experiences that came each week.

On this particular day, certain grammatical forms and vocabulary were lodged permanently in my mind. For instance, the passive form of the verb “to apprehend or arrest,” was graphically illustrated as the police led us away. We had come to this remote village in the north of the country to give help to poor families. However, since there are rarely any foreigners in the area, the police assumed we must be doing something wrong and arrested us.

We spent several hours in the police station, drinking lots of tea while they investigated our activities. But finding no evidence of wrongdoing, in the end we were released. At that juncture I learned another word meaning “they were embarrassed,” for the police were forced to admit their mistake.

God has a way of guiding and providing for us that is beyond normal human thought. This was language learning at its best, disguised as trouble, which was uncomfortable and disquieting--and would later to lead to bigger difficulties--but was very effective for both language learning and spiritual growth.

The question we always need to ask ourselves is: “Am I willing to look at things from God’s perfect perspective so I can thank Him and take advantage of the opportunity that is offered in my present problem?” Such times are the opportunity to live the truth that “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

Prayer: “Lord, help me to live today in the light of your presence, seeing your gracious working in all that happens. Help me to have a heart that praises without knowing how you are going to work things out. Amen.”