I was appointed to give a club talk this week for Wyld Life club and was stumped as to what to say and how to say it. Originally I wanted to express how great the power of Jesus was and is. I wanted kids to see that Jesus can do ANYTHING in our lives if we ask him to. But then, something happened. I was robbed.
I live in a house with 5 other single women- each of which is living in Rwanda serving the Lord in one way or another. Four of us went away for a long weekend, only to return to the reality that our guard stole from us and fled. He not only took a large amount of our money and some pricey possessions, but he also stole our trust. He robbed us of feeling secure in our home. He robbed us of being able to trust people in the same way we trusted him. He deeply hurt us. He damaged the perception we have of Rwanda. So much was changed in our world at the expense of this single betrayal.
So recently, my mind and spirit have been tightly linked to this event. Inspiration for a club talk about God's power seemed distant and forced. However, I have been reminded that while people are capable of being trusted, we are all imperfect at it. We trusted our guard for years because he proved to us he was trustworthy. He never gave us a reason to doubt his integrity. Temptation got a hold of him and the trust we had for him was shattered in just a moment of weakness. People aren't perfectly trustworthy, but Jesus is. Jesus never goes back on a promise and His love for us outweighs any "selfish ambition" that people fall into. He would never betray us because he isn't out to get anything from us. He humbled himself and was born as a human being in order to show us his character, his love, his forgiveness, and his absolute trustworthiness! He isn't out to get anything from us because he needs nothing from us. He is complete on his own! Our response of loving him in return is a bonus and a reason for him to celebrate, but He doesn't rely on it. His love has no strings attached. He loves simply because that is who He is. He is trustworthy simply because He has no ounce of evil in him and his love makes it impossible for Him to do anything that would hurt us.
Who do you trust? If you have a hard time trusting people, I understand. I feel like a fool for trusting our guard like I did. But when we trust God, we can't live in fear that people will constantly be on the verge of betraying us. Trusting God is understanding that people will let us down, but He will help us back up when that happens. Trusting God is seeing that God will redeem all types of betrayal so we can continue to trust that He is at work in our relationships with people. God is still powerful and can still do anything. Through this trial, I've just seen how "The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. Jesus' purpose is to give us a rich and satisfying life." (John 10:10) And the importance of this command to "Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Luke 12:33-34)
Please pray for my house (there are 6 of us) as we continue to search for our guard through the police. Pray for peace in our house- a couple roommates are also feeling ill and we are all feeling uneasy and vulnerable. Pray for our guard- that he may be found and that he would repent of this sin and come to know the grace of God. Pray for us as we determine how to move on toward more heightened security and a system to put in place to keep this from happening again. Pray for us as we also try to move forward with less resources and money (due to the theft) to live the way we've been living. Pray that God would use this trial to strengthen our trust in Him! Amen!
