Habakkuk 1:2
How long, LORD, have I called for help, and You do not hear?
Have you ever felt like you just got it wrong with God? Like, you thought you were on the right track, hearing His voice, following the right path and suddenly everything falls apart? In 2013, my wife and I were working in a Middle Eastern country where we sensed the Lord leading us to develop a Christ-focused educational curriculum for public school students. Knowing the project was an immense undertaking that would require large amounts of economic and human resources, we were careful to pray and fast and seek the wisdom and counsel of other trusted believers. When we were confident we had the “go-ahead” from God, we spent three years raising funds, recruiting team members, gaining government approvals, and doing the actual curriculum design. It was a massive amount of work, but we found joy in the effort because we knew God was the Initiator of the idea.
And then everything went wrong.
Trusted national team members turned out to be working for a political group opposed to the Gospel. As a result, we were arrested and falsely accused of “corrupting the youth of the country.” Our co-workers were deported, and all of our funding was seized. Within 24 hours, three years of work had vanished. Sitting together in a foreign jail cell, my wife and I prayed the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from us; yet not our will, but always Yours be done.”
His answer came softly to us.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight your paths.
This year, 2024, we will launch the program anew in the same country. Trust God’s timing.
1 Thessalonians 5:24
The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.
Jamie Winship
