This is a guest post by Matt and Karissa Long.
The difference between the two is just a little plastic tube. Recently I (Karissa) got the opportunity to go snorkeling in the ocean. I got to see beautiful coral reefs and fish I’d only seen in aquariums. It was an experience, but I can’t say it was a fully enjoyable one. As I was swimming, I couldn’t shake the feeling like I might drown at any moment. I knew that I could breathe through the snorkel, that it was my connection to the vast supply of oxygen above, but it wasn’t how I was used to breathing. I really wanted to just pop my head up and breathe, but whenever I did, I missed the beauty below. So I tried to keep swimming, gazing on the beauty and trusting my snorkel to bring me air, repeating to myself,
Just keep breathing. Breathe in, Breathe out.
Our time in PNG has been a little bit like that. We know it is an incredible privilege, with opportunities to see God at work in ways we’ve never seen before. But it’s been hard, and different. We don’t know our next steps- we don’t have partners yet, and we don’t know for sure where we’ll move to in a couple of months. We are having to depend on God for our sustenance and His provision in a moment-by-moment way. Jesus is our connection to the vast supply of all God’s power above. When we wonder what God is doing, we have to remind ourselves of His past faithfulness and Who we know Him to be. We have to keep saying to ourselves…
Just keep trusting. Trust Him today. Trust Him tomorrow.
Matt and Karissa are currently learning how to live in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and making plans as they go in order to work with partners within one of PNG’s many people groups. They have two boys, Ty and Wyck. You can keep up with them here at their Ethnos360 Blog.