BSF in Shanghai

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Tonight at BSF I had a wonderful experience that I thought I would share.

One of the questions read
"Why do you think being carried off to another land would be a good thing for the people"
I took this question at face value since we are studying Isaiah and Israel was under treat of invasion and exile.
I said something like... it reminded them of how good they had it under the Lord and how much better the world is under him than under anything else...
Yet another lady in my group, an expat to be exact, took the question in a different and more thoughtful and perosnal light.
She read it as "Why do you think being carried off to another land would be a good think for A person"
Being an COMPLETE foreigner in China she said that had to relearn to COMPLETELY rely on God.
I absolutely loved this, as did most of the other expats in my group, because we are all in similar situations. Our foundations have been shaken by moving and part of adjusting is reexamining our relationship with God.
Though my move has been fairly easy and uneventful it has still been a huge change and has taught me that I have to rely on God for guidance and help. I cannot do this alone. This makes China a huge blessing because it has also taught me not to be complacent. It might seem ironic that living in and traveling to the largest atheistic country in the world would strengthen my relationship with God but it has because I am being tested and tried everyday in ways that I was not in NC, or perhaps I just did not see them as I am now.
Our leader Lena said tonight "When times are good we lose sight of why we need God" and "real life can be real scary".
I love both of these statements because I feel like they can pertain so personally to me in my "limbo, expat, wanderer" situation. It is through the hardship of adjusting to a new place and people that I am realizing how much I need God and that life is hard at times but we just have to keep pushing through it.

I have loved going to BSF in Shanghai it is both comforting and challenging. I know I am not alone in this vast city and in the world. I know Mrs. Ritcher and others are working on the exact same lesson that I did this week and being challenged just as I am. I have found Isaiah to be a remarkable study thus far, though dark in places, yet through it all I now know why "it can be good to be carried off to another land".... it shakes you to the core and makes you rely on God rather than yourself because you could not do it alone.

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