God had Chile in Mind


Deuteronomy 8:6-11

6 Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;


8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegran
ates, olive oil and honey;


9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing;

a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills10

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.

One of the great things about being a foreigner in a country is that you observe things about that country that those who live there overlook. I still marvel at beauty of this country, at the snow capped mountain range that runs the length of the country, the world's driest desert in the north, and the breathtaking fjords in the far south. I daily enjoy the abundance of fruits and vegetables year round, fresh bread on every corner with every meal, and the warmth of sitting in someone's house for tea time as they treat you with way more love and honor than you feel like you deserve. Chile is a blessed country, with natural resources abounding and wonderful, hospitable people. I notice these things, because as an outsider you see the things that locals don't. You are grateful for things that are second nature to them and as a consequence, overlooked.

That's why when I read this verse I thought of Chile. It speaks of abundant agriculture, rolling brooks, and and minerals such as copper that they would be able to mine. This describes Chile! They have so many copper reserves that as a nation they have no debt! Are you kidding, no DEBT? What does God ask in return? "Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him". That's it. In light of all God gives us, he simply asks us to obey him and revere him, just to be thankful for all He has done for us! Sometimes we forget or overlook God's goodness in our lives, to the detriment of our own spiritual well being. Sometimes is just takes an "outsider" coming in and saying and pointing out what we've known all along, and to remind us that we have so much for which to be thankful. So, as an outsider to your life and your reality, what good things are you overlooking in the midst of life? Let me encourage you to look up and realize how faithful God has been and all the good things He has done for us!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Naomi Faith's Arrival

Image
The New Renfro Family Monday night we went to bed around 1:00 am. Veronica and Melody ha d been over that day. We had lunch at a Peruvian restaurant, came home, had coke floats, watched the movie Up and ate popcorn. It was a fun day off and a great way to pass the time as I anxiously awaited for Naomi to get here. I was 39 weeks and 2 days along. That night before bed I journaled a bit in Naomi’s prayer journal, then fell asleep in Josh’s arms as he consoled my tears of anxiousness and impatience. A t 2:30something am I was awakened by a sharp abdominal pain. It wasn’t the type of contraction I had been looking out for. I decided to have a bit of hope and began to take down the time. At 2:45 I felt another one. I thought to myself “can this be it”. I laid there and just waited. 3:00 am, another one. I turned on the lamp and Josh must have sens ed something because he rolled over and asked if I was ok. I, surprised at the fact he had actually woken up, told him I thought I was having ...
Read more

BUSES AND COFFEE

Image
We've been in Costa Rica for almost 3 months. We finally feel pretty adapted and pretty blessed with the opportunity to be here. It's amazing how living in a different country makes you think a lot about your identity and values. God is teaching us so much about people and culture! We wanted to take the time and share a little about our lives here. Costa Rica is a country of 4 million people, which is equivalent to the city of Houston! And 1 million of them live in the the province of San Jose, where the capital is and where we live. It is a pretty advanced country and we have almost everything we need. In some cases not what we are use too, but hey it works. Something that we've had to adapt to is not having a car. So buses have become our common mean of transportation. I've really grown to enjoy it because we are exposed to people daily and through it I have learned a lot about patience. Having a car you can get in, drive to, get out, do what you have to do and head b...
Read more

Ministry Update

Image
It will be almost a year since we arrived in Chile and the Lord has exceded far more than what we asked and prayed for. Our heart and prayer was to help the students have a vision for discipleship along with getting small groups established and funcioning. We are gateful for the students the Lord has enabled us to work with and there is testimony after testimony of how the Lord is using each one of them on their campuses and in their small groups. The second semester just began and we currently have 4 solid small groups meeting every week. This September we are also starting our second leadersip course for the students that will lead small groups next school year in March. Another prayer we had, was the ability to share the vision with the National Church in Chile. We have had several opportunities to present the vision of CONEXION at several pastors meetings and conventions. This work cannot happen without the support of the National Church! Last month we had our very first students c...
Read more