He is not there?

January 5

Mark it down. You will never go where God is not. – Max Lucado

Young couples are always hoping for the opportunity that will afford them the break they need to achieve the financial goals they desire. We were no exception. The day is indelibly printed in my mind when my husband came home from work and announced that his company was opening a new office in another state. Obtaining one of the jobs they had available would mean a promotion and a salary increase for him.

It sounded like a wonderful idea to me until he went on to say that the job would require him to travel into Saudi Arabia. Being a ‘home-town’ kind of girl, I had no desire to venture into ‘another world’ simply to attain a financial opportunity—especially to a place that seemed barbaric in my mind. My husband agreed, because of my apprehension, that he would not apply for the job. However, something happened that changed both our minds.

The very next Sunday, as we sat in our little Pentecostal church, the service was interrupted with a message in tongues. I remember it verbatim: “You can go anywhere in the world and I will be with you and I will return you safely home.” My husband and I looked at each other and we knew that although that word from God may be meant for dozens of others, it was certainly meant for us, so we traveled as a family to that distant land that is so unlike our homeland. We enjoyed every moment of time we spent there.

We came to appreciate the strength of the people who had hewn out a culture in such a foreboding land. But most of all, we came to appreciate the promise of the Lord in John 14:18 which says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you. I will always be with you.” He was indeed true to His word to us. He guided us through the differences in values and beliefs that were so unlike our own and He enabled us to share our faith with people who desired to better understand the strangers among them.