The sermon urging us to let go of worries and concerns about tomorrow coinciding with what a missionary preached yesterday is surely no coincidence. In the Middle East, the war between Israel and Palestine, sparked by Hamas’s terrorist attacks, shows signs of becoming protracted. The war between Russia and Ukraine continues unabated. Now, concerns are even emerging that the territorial dispute between China and Taiwan could materialize.

Let us shift our gaze to God’s perspective as the sovereign ruler of history and meditate on the words and Holy Spirit experiences given to Abraham and Paul. “The LORD said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.’” (Genesis 12:1) Especially in the Middle Eastern nomadic era, leaving the tribe one lived with was extremely dangerous. The sermon emphasized how profoundly solemn it was to leave, trusting not in some land God had already shown, but in a land He would show in the future—a matter of life and death. It was a word testing faith in God, and I deeply meditated on what it meant that Abram obeyed that word. Also, the story of Paul’s journey to Damascus, where his eyes were blinded by light and he heard the Lord’s voice, is one I’ve heard many times, yet his conversion process was truly astonishing.

Through these two biblical figures, I contemplated what faith in God truly means and looked back on how my own faith journey has unfolded thus far. Like Abraham, I too lived in the wilderness in America during my thirties, anticipating the land God would show me. After business failure, I endured painful times of depression, experiencing a process similar to Saul’s transformation into Paul. Ultimately, I proclaimed and meditated on the truth that all glory belongs to God. Praying that my faith may continue to grow, I updated my blog today.