Knowing Your God

Asuke in the fall

Before our first term in Japan, I was at a ladies’ retreat where the speaker, Mardi Collier, shared her testimony and talked about a study that changed her life. It is now out in book form.  In What Do I Know About My God? Mardi talks about what a difference it made in her life when she began applying truths about God to her circumstances. She started a simple study in which she wrote a truth about God in sentence form at the top of a page. Then as she was reading her Bible and she came across a verse that taught that truth, she wrote it on the page. She placed the pages in a notebook in alphabetical order. When difficulties came and she needed to know something about God, she would turn to her notebook and read the verses she had written out.  This study has changed my daily Bible reading and has proved to be very helpful when facing different circumstances in life over the years.  As a result, it has been my desire to see the ladies in Japan begin this study and to learn to know God on a more personal level.  With Mardi Collier’s permission, we translated her outline into Japanese and some of the ladies have begun to make their own notebooks.  It is so exciting to see them doing this.  We have ladies from several countries in our church. These ladies take the studies they are working on and share them with their family and friends back in their own countries.  

We encourage the ladies to apply these truths to their daily life.  It is so exciting to see God involved in our everyday life.  One truth that I see in my life daily is that My God gives grace to me.  This is a particular help as I live daily in a culture and communicate in a language that I don’t often understand.  2 Corinthians 12:9,10, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”  One of the ways God gives grace is to help you laugh at your mistakes.  We had a mission team from a Christian university come a few of years ago.  One of the members was a Japanese man who was a graduate student at BJU at the time.  We took the team out for sushi.  It was one of the places where the plates rotate around and you grab the plate you want or you can special order.  We had given the team members a price limit so that things wouldn’t get too expensive.  This man was sitting at the end of my table, so he had to point and ask for what he wanted.  He pointed to a plate and said, “ikura.”  Ikura has several meanings, one of which is “how much” so I replied, “100 yen.”  He said, “No, no,” pointed again and said, “Ikura.”  I replied “100 yen.”  Whatever he was pointing at was gone by now.  He then pointed at another plate and said, “Hamachi.”  I thought he was saying “how much” with an accent so I replied, “100 yen” rather emphatically.  He then laughed out loud which is unusual for a Japanese.  He was asking for “Ikura” or salmon eggs and “Hamachi” which is a type of fish.  Everyone, including myself, had a good laugh over that one! 

We have faced many trials in Japan in recent years.  There have been trials and changes in the ministry.  There have been disasters such as the tsunami, earthquakes, a volcano eruption, floods and now back to back typhoons.  It is part of the human nature to worry or be anxious during these times, but My God doesn’t want me to be anxious.  Psalm 94:19, “In the multitude of my thoughts [or anxieties] within me thy comforts delight my soul.”  Luke 10:41-42, “And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, [I can personalize this and say…Kim, Kim…] thou art careful and troubled about many things:  But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”  Philippians 4:6, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”  I Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

Part of the culture in Japan is a group mentality.  They frown on thinking outside the box.  You have to be part of a group to be accepted and be given an opportunity to witness for the Lord.  We work hard at every opportunity the Lord gives us to be part of a group.  Recently, I have had opportunities to be part of an International Association in a nearby city.   The Lord has given me opportunities to reach out to some of the ladies in this association.  I teach English, study Japanese and have spoken at one of their international events.  These are wonderful opportunities, but sometimes it is painfully obvious that we are the foreigners.  It is easy to feel lonely, forgotten or forsaken.   My God has not forgotten me.  Isaiah 49:15, “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.”  My God does not forsake me.  Deuteronomy 4:31, “(For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee,”  These are truths that I have been able to share with some of the foreign women in our ministry.  One lady is from a nearby Asian country.  She was first exposed to Christianity in Dubai while working there.  My heart was challenged as she told us of meeting for church in the desert, because it was too hot and out of the way for the police to investigate there.  She is married to an unsaved Japanese man.  She is often discriminated against.  It is a comfort to her to know that God is with her, hasn’t forgotten her and does not forsake her.

Today I would like to leave you with the fact that My God is good.  Psalm 31:19, “Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!”  Psalm 34:8, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”  Psalm 107:1, “O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”  Psalm 107:8, 9, “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!  For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”  Psalm 119:68, “Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.”  This is the truth that I dwell on regularly.  No matter what is going on in my life, God is good.  In the middle of sorrow, surgeries, delayed answer to prayer, loneliness, earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, misunderstandings of language and culture…God is good!    

The Lord is good—Tell it wherever you go.

The Lord is good—Tell it that others may know!

Tell of His blessings and tell of His love,

Tell how He’s coming from Heaven above:

The Lord is good—Tell it wherever you go.

~Alfred B. Smith