No hablo Ingles

Tonight I attended an International Thanksgiving dinner with some of my friends. When I found out about the event, my main intention for going was to watch one of my very good friends perform in a skit. After reading her lines, I knew I couldn’t miss out on this once in a lifetime event. It’s safe to assume, she won’t be traveling to Hollywood anytime soon to audition for any big time roles (although I believe she will venture back to California someday). Aside from the skit, I knew very little about the event I had agreed to attend. So needless to say when I arrived and saw the spread of food along with the semi-large crowd, I was a bit overwhelmed and a bit impressed. After a small class reunion with fantabulous girls I hadn’t talked to in years;  it was finally time to eat. As I walked through the Buffett style line, I asked the servers what each dish was. I am pretty sure I asked the man at the sushi station to describe every sushi roll. (good thing there were only 12-15) Unfortunately, some of the servers didn’t know the details of the dish they were serving and if they did know, English wasn’t their primary language. So I very quickly stopped relying on knowledge and randomly began selecting dishes that looked appetizing or smelled delightful. And then I just started taking a sample of everything! When I sat down, I knew very little about the contents of my plate but I was prepared to trust the experts who had prepared the meal. (And my culinary expertise of course) After the dinner was over, I was asked to take some of the International students home. Of course, I would take them home; I never turn down an opportunity to meet new friends. Of the five individuals who needed rides, two spoke very little English. And the lucky winners who were fortunate enough to ride with me were the two young Korean women who spoke very little English. They clearly never expressed fear to me but I can only imagine what they were thinking as they got into a car with a complete stranger with a very limited form of communication.
(one girl was able to tell me that she doesn’t like driving in the dark)Throughout our drive, I learned that they were both from South Korea and were in America for 3 months. I also learned that they made the delicious sweet and spicy beef and they wanted to be nurses.  After I successfully got them to their apartment (my gas light was on the entire time) they thanked me and were somewhat relieved that I was able find the correct apartment. (I didn’t have the heart to tell them I followed the other car taking students home)

I thought I was living on the edge by tasting unfamiliar foods (I even tried unknown sushi and that just doesn’t happen) but these young ladies put me to shame with their willingness to trust a stranger to get them home safely. How awesome would it be if we trusted God as innocently as my new friends trusted me: If we put ourselves in situations where the only understandable component was God? Unfortunately, we do the exact opposite most of the time. When we find ourselves in unfamiliar or uncomfortable situations, we focus on everything but God. We cling to anything that will sustain us and forget all about the promises we have in God. We forget that He has each and every one of our steps planned out. We forget that if He brought us to it, He will bring us through it. We forget that NOTHING is impossible with God.  We forget that He has a plan for us. We forget that we serve a miracle giving God. We forget that we are covered with Grace. We forget that in every situation, the only understandable component is God. We can’t possibly begin to understand or withstand every situation in our lives but we can blindly trust God. In every situation, we can either choose to make God all that matters or choose to question everything God is doing. We weren’t created to grasp and understand the depths of God but we were created to love God and to live for eternity. And each and every situation we find ourselves in; takes us one step closer to eternity where we will finally be overjoyed at the physical presence of God.

Sometimes in our walk with God we will be required to use our blind faith. We will have to go beyond unidentifiable sushi rolls and uncomfortable care rides. We will be faced with a situation where nothing makes sense and everything surrounding us is unfamiliar. No one will understand us and we will feel completely abandoned. And despite the fact that we are beginning to question everything about God; He is there. He is there and if we trust Him; He will be the only one who holds the key to our understanding. Who holds the key to our heart; who holds the key to heaven.

Verse to remember:
2 Corinthians 5:7 We live by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 4:18 There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.