By Elizabeth

When I was newly married, my husband and I took an exploratory trip to PNG. We stayed in the village with a veteran missionary and learned more and more about this land that we would eventually commit to ministry in. This trip had been my second and during my first, I had a couple very unsavory run-ins with a pest you might know as: the cockroach. Subsequently, I was no fan. So when one day I noticed a very small cockroach on the edge of a mug, I very calmly told my husband that he needed to kill it. All nonchalant, he reached his hand out and went to squash it, but…with unearthly speed! It jumped on his hand! And it began sprinting circles around his hand conjuring a tornado of vile cockroachiness! To say that I was freaking out might be an understatement. And the missionary looked at me like I was crazy.

In my house, if I see a line of ants carrying off a dead cockroach, I’m like, “sweet, glad I don’t have to clean that up!” Whereas I have a teammate who does. not. do. ants. Another teammate does not do technology. While troubleshooting is a necessary nuisance for some, a fun puzzle for my husband, for this teammate it is stress and anxiety. While I sift weevils out of my flour, there are some who toss it because bugs in food is a deal breaker. I know one person who very strongly did not like hanging laundry up to dry. Another was overwhelmed that her sheets didn’t properly fit the non-standard size mattresses we find here.

Our stressors are as unique as we are. But in one way, we’re all the same…

Recently, my personal torture has been computers. We have had a verifiable series of unfortunate events in the last few months over these painfully essential pieces of work equipment. From speakers to screens to keyboards to mousepads to batteries to chargers. Mysteriously vanishing programs, lost work, stolen data. It’s been a nightmare. And to this day, we do not own a computer that free-functions.

As if living in a third world country does not already make the most simple tasks at least a little harder, now, this laptop, that I should be able to pick up, open, and begin working.  It’s just supposed to work. Even in the third world. It’s one thing that’s just supposed to work!

Because here’s the thing: I don’t want to lose it. When missionaries lose it, they go home. And I don’t want to go home. I’ve been so privileged to have the opportunity to serve the Mum people and, while life can be hard here, there are so many aspects of my life here that I treasure dearly and don’t want to lose. And I especially don’t want to lose it over something as stupid as a computer.

And when my soul cries out, the Lord answers “my strength is made perfect in your weakness.” Paul goes on to say in 1 Cor. 12:9: Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

How beautiful! The Lord isn’t ashamed or disappointed that his servant is, that I am, weak. For Him, it’s merely yet another opportunity to show His power and glory. Another opportunity for Him to be glorified.

So confess your weaknesses. Own them! Brag about them! SO THAT the magnificent and glorious power of the Lord will rest on you. So that every time your weakness didn’t defeat you, you can point back to our Savior and say, “Check him out! How amazing is a God who puts his power to the work of fortifying me in the midst of a cockroach crisis! What a good God we serve.”

Elizabeth is a Bible translator serving the Mum language group.