I just heard a song on Christian radio that proclaimed “I’m not who I was” and gave several reasons why that was good. It reminded me of the ten-year challenge that is popular on the internet. People post pictures from ten years ago alongside current pictures. Most pictures show how much younger they looked before and the difference in hair and clothing.
What was I like ten years ago? In 2009 I was training for a move to the Marshal Islands. I would fill five jobs at the small Embassy and each job came with responsibilities that had serious consequences if I failed. As my training progressed I wondered if I could handle it. I asked GOD to help me overcome my fear and learn what I needed so I could do a good job.
Shortly after we arrived a senior manager told me my job was impossible, he didn’t see how I could do it! I agreed with him when I saw that everything was in a mess. Reports hadn’t been submitted, facilities were falling apart, contracts had problems and were expiring, employees were chronically absent and the information I desperately needed was hidden in the mess my predecessors had left behind. I continued asking for GOD’s help.
My prayers begin to be answered with the arrival of our new Ambassador. Her career was spent in the areas I struggled with and she gave me the guidance I needed to get things on track. I soon discovered my assistant, a big Fijian, was a wealth of knowledge and a great help. I hired the guards from our troubled guard contract and was surprised to find the Supervisor was a hidden treasure. I asked for help from our parent Embassy and received a constant flow of the help I needed. My job was never “easy” but with the LORD’s help, it became possible.
Fast forward to today. With a more wrinkles, less hair and more weight, I have changed. After three years in Brussels and two years in Beijing, life had made a difference in me. I retired from the Foreign Service and moved back home to Texas. Settling down, after 16 years overseas, was a big change. More time with our daughter and grandchildren has definitely affected me. With all the wonderful things happening, I still look to the LORD for help.
After years away from regular medical care, I had things to take care of. After years of deteriorating vision, cataract surgery corrected the problem. My surgery aggravated a balance issue that threatened my ability to drive and do what I needed to do. Doctors eventually put a tube in my ear and my balance problem cleared up. Doctors discovered I had suffered a mini-stroke at some time in the past, a problem I didn’t even know that GOD had taken care of. Though I will follow my Doctor’s advice, I depend on GOD for my healing.
No, I’m not who I was. Though I am older, GOD’s love has made me wiser. As my body ages, I have no fear. I spend more time in prayer, in reading my Bible and in sharing how “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV). I am a living testimony of GOD’s mercy and grace and have the time to share that Good News with a lost and dying world!
Wayne Lance (2019)