I’ve spent a lot of time in Kigali, Rwanda, this week preparing for some leadership transitions. My days have been filled with meetings with bank officials, senior staff members and vendors. I’ve been reminded again that, in the overwhelming busyness of our day-to-day operations, it is easy for us to depend on our own skills, experience or positions.
At the end of the day, I am reminded that anything valuable that we achieve is God’s work. He is the author and finisher of our faith, and it is only in His strength that we are able to accomplish anything of lasting value.
This truth leads me to a place of lasting peace. When I rest in Him, I can be confident that His work will be done, in His time and in His way.
There is a vivid story in Luke 19. It’s the story of Jesus coming into the city of Jerusalem. The text says that when He came to the city, He stopped, He looked at the city and He wept.
“As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.”” (Luke 19:41-42).
When I think about the city of Kigali, Rwanda, and about Hope Haven Rwanda, I pray that our entire leadership team will demonstrate the lasting peace that only God can provide. So often, we are tempted to look to other things for peace. We may look to our comfort, or our security, or our position, and none of that will matter beyond the grave.
A dear friend of mine, Benny Mathews, recently shared this quote from Corrie Ten Boom: “When we look at the world, we get distressed; When we look within, we get depressed. But when we look at Christ we are at rest!”
May we all be compelled to cling to God alone, and to find the peace that only He can provide, because that is the only permanent peace!