WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES - World Evangelical Alliance

BUILDING HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS
173
When the disciples experienced a storm, they were filled with fear even
though Jesus was with them. They had to change their focus from the storm to
the Lord Himself, the Controller of the winds and waves. Only then could they
experience His “Peace, be still!”
True rest is found in Christ (Matthew 11:28, 29). True rest is not a rest
from normal work or activity, but rest in the midst of work and its pressures.
This is because, in Christ, all our faculties and affections find true satisfaction.
Human therapists recommend various techniques to calm the mind. We
should note that some of them are good, while others are dangerous. God has
already provided His therapy, His “means of grace”. Most indispensable is our
daily fellowship with Him through the Scriptures and through prayer. The Holy
Spirit often brings to mind phrases or verses of Scripture, especially those we
have meditated upon and memorised. We can also bring these verses to mind
at any time - even during the hours of the night, and learn to commune with
God.
Worshipping God and His attributes enables us to experience them in
our lives. We can experience His power, His wisdom, His holiness and His love.
Our hearts and minds are illumined to experience His sovereign control over
circumstances and our lives. God draws near to us and His loving care for us
can be a constant reality.
It is dangerously easy to rely on our own strength. It takes no effort to do
so. When our times with God become sporadic, when we neglect our intake of
His Word, we only add to our stresses and burdens. We can try to come up with
our own ideas and plans to meet our needs or solve our problems. But trying
on our own will only take care of our problems temporarily or peripherally.
We need to set aside and schedule times to meet with God. Our fellowship
with Him should never be rushed if it is to be meaningful. Hard-driving people
and cross-cultural workers need to learn to calmly and quietly wait on God.
Answers to our pressures and problems do not always come quickly.
God’s ways and timing are different from ours. We must learn perseverance in
prayer and our faith is stretched during times of waiting. God’s presence and
person becomes real in times of seeming darkness. His ways of developing our
character and deepening our lives are usually not the ways we would choose.
God alone knows us through and through and will do what is best for us.
As I write this chapter, I am learning to wait on God. Isaiah 30:15-21 is a
passage that has encouraged me. Four words stand out: REPENTANCE and
REST ... in QUIETNESS and TRUST.
In the passage, God’s people refused to obey. They experienced terrible
defeat. God impressed upon me that His solution to my pressures and problems