Ants. I’ve experienced them in the hot and humid coastal areas of Indonesia, but now we’ve moved to a dryer climate at 5150 feet elevation. To my surprise, my kitchen was overrun with the little black vermin! If I so much as dropped a crumb, there they were! Usually as I adjust to overseas living, I also adjust to the ants, but this time their sheer numbers perturbed me.

I tried plugging their holes with dish soap. That worked – for about a day. I borrowed liquid poison, but to no avail. My friend Beth recommended ant chalk – and even brought me some since there wasn’t any available in town. It worked! The ants hated the stuff. Elated, I watched as they marched up to the line of chalk, hesitated, and then turned back. My counters were safe! Or so I thought.

Beth and Linda

After a few days, the chalk would wear off in certain spots, and the persistent critters would find a place to cross. Undaunted, I’d get the chalk out again, and reseal the line with a flourish. No more ants. Now my chalk lines just needed some daily maintenance and we were A-OK.

One morning as I spied the little black nuisances breaking through my chalk line, God whispered to me, “Linda, these ants are like your familiar sins.” That stung a bit as I thought about a recent “familiar” sin that God had convicted me about. “Now,” He continued, “You need daily maintenance with the help of my Holy Spirit in that area. Consciously choose to put off that sin and let me be your chalk line.”

I glanced at my lines of ant chalk with new understanding, and a new desire to be holy. “Lord, give me the tenacity with my sins that I have with the ants!” I prayed silently.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Jesus Christ.” Romans 6:11

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.” Psalm 28:7

Lately I feel like God grabbed my ankles, flipped me upside down and shook me until all the loose change of MY priorities, expectations, and unbelief has fallen out of my pockets! “Why?” you might ask. It’s simple. I moved back overseas.

I’ve moved back overseas before, but this time it’s to a TOTALLY new place – Papua, Indonesia. New routine (or lack of it), new colleagues, new people group, new climate, new, new, new. Can you tell I don’t really like change? At times, I find myself depressed because life’s just plain hard right now.

C.J., my 11 year old son, just started school at a “new” school, and was struggling with his math homework. Sensing his resistance to my efforts to guide him through a long division problem, I exclaimed in frustration, “C.J.! I’m right here to help you!”

“But Mom,” he moaned, “It’s just TOO hard! I can’t handle this! Why does God make us do things that are hard?!”

Stunned, I realized that he had voiced the same issue that I was struggling with. Now I was faced with having to explain to my child the answer to the question I didn’t want to face. I swallowed hard.

“Well, C.J., God loves us SO much that He wants us to grow – and sometimes growth only comes through hard things.” I paused, surprised at my words. “But I’m right here to help you! All you have to do is trust me, and we’ll walk through this together.” God had given me a glimpse into how He must desire to do the same for me!

Later, after C.J. had allowed me to help him through his homework, I chuckled to myself. “You’re funny, Lord! But I get it. You just want me to trust you. You CAN help me through the hard times – if I let you. Even if it is harder than long division!”

Subscribe (RSS) to “Mom’s on a Mission.”