Thailand Reflections...

For the last month I have been in Thailand.

I don't really know how to summarise my time there in a meaningful way, and yet I feel that I must.

Part of me wants to put into words all that I learnt about beholding the true light of Jesus even when life is beclouded and dark. But another part of me knows that I am still learning about this and wonders how I will ever be able to express it in words. That is the part that also knows that if I start trying too hard to put all that into words then this blog entry will become self-focussed and introspective.

Then there are parts of me that want to sing.

This is very rare for me. I rarely feel like singing...except to express sorrow.

But something has awakened within me. A desire to sing to express joy and love and deep confidence in who God is and what He will do.

These are the parts of me that I want to express right now. I want to tell of the wonderful things God has done...of who He is and what He will do.

God is at work in students' lives...and He has been through the generations. I became very aware in Thailand of the people that had gone before me. I was aware of standing on the shoulders of giants. And I was given the privilege of seeing a glimpse of how God's hand had been at work through those 'saints of old' as I was shown some of the fruit of their labours.

God is sovereign, even over all the stuff that doesn't seem to make any sense. It doesn't seem to make sense to me that so many people are wondering around in darkness, trying to 'make merit' for themselves when there is full, true and eternal righteousness available in Christ, through His death in our place. Visiting the Temple in Chiang Mai was a heart-wrenching reminder of how much people need Jesus, the 'light of the world', to shine His light into their dark lives. But equally, I was reminded that salvation belongs to God and He is completely sovereign and completely loving. Singing and praying together as a team on the way back from the temple in the song theaw was the refreshment our souls needed. Singing truths about God spoke confidence into the depths...

Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above,
with wisdom, power and love,
Our God is an awesome God.