I couldn’t open my eyes. The blizzard rained nails on my face.
Snow covered my legs up to my knees. Every step forward felt like deadweight.
The more I pushed forward, the closer I was to giving up. There was no point making my way any further if I couldn’t see an end point.
I woke up from that terrible dream in Eswatini, Africa, tears streaming down from the edges of my eyes. My body, heavy like stone, sank deep into the mattress like quicksand.
What a terrible, terrible dream.
It was exactly how I’d felt over the past few months. Yet, I knew the dream was from God- His way of saying, “I know what you’re going through.”
That day as I went out into the field to the rural villages of Africa, I looked around and noticed the topography around me- the unending rolling hills all around.
It was then that I had a revelation- that from peak to peak lies a long way of undulating valleys. A treacherous way. A difficult way.
And while life is certainty meant to be celebrated, it’s not meant to be lived only in the mountaintop experiences. A large, large part of life, most of it in fact, is walked in the valleys.
I felt Him telling me- that if I walked long enough in the blizzard, just forwards, even if blindly, He would help me make my way to the next peak.
In this photo, I stand with Babe Zwame (pronounced “Bah-Bay” meaning Father, “Zwah-nee”), the other UNICEF consultant in my team who’s also a pastor in a rural village of Eswatini.
In my time of discouragement, he texted to me one day Psalm 121: I lift up my eyes to the hills– where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip– he who watches over you will not slumber.”
Are you lost? Lonely? Discouraged?
Know that you’re not alone. I hope this message “Dig In, Dig Deep” will encourage your heart today: