Oh Jacó.

I went to Jacó beach with the team yesterday. We went for a day trip and it was meant to be a day of fun and relaxation… until my iPod, debit card and some money got stolen at lunch. Five hours before we were supposed to leave to come home for the day. I really don’t want to go into the whole story, but you should know that these guys were no petty thieves. They knew what they were doing and they had done this before. And that makes me so sad. It was all a game to them. And that also makes me sad. Like my heart literally hurt because the whole thing was just so ridiculous. Yes, I was sad because they took my iPod, which I had just received as a gift from my parents only 3 ½ months ago, but I was more so sad because that was the life that those men lived. That was the game they played everyday, probably. What must they think about their lives when they get home at night? Do they know how empty it is? Do they look at the engravings on the iPods and wonder at the meanings? Or think about the people they stole from? These were not people who had to steal to survive.



(This is the place of the incident)

So the rest of the day I was just bummed about everything, I guess you could say: my stuff being taken and being sad for the men who took it. When I got home that night I didn’t have a lot of emotional energy, but I grabbed my Bible and opened the Psalms. I’ve been more or less reading through the Psalms while I’ve been here and the next one was Psalm 77. Verses 11-19 are the ones I just read over and over…

“I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember Your wonders of old. I will ponder all Your works, and meditate on Your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your might among the peoples. You with Your arm redeemed Your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. When the waters saw You, O God, when the waters say You, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. The clouds poured out water; the skies gave fourth thunder; Your arrows flashed on every side. The crash of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; Your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. Your way was through the sea, Your path through the great waters; yet Your footprints were unseen.”

After I read that I said to myself, “Yes, that’s it! God was there during the whole thing, He knows what’s going, and He’s in control of absolutely everything. And He is Big.” I just couldn’t get over the presence of God in this situation. What happened didn’t surprise Him. He knows why this happened. Maybe it was to teach me a lesson, maybe it was to teach them a lesson. Maybe I’ll never know why this happened, but I still know that God’s ways are holy and perfect. And that He is a great and majestic God.

Just these phrases alone show His power: (just think about them for a second)

“You with Your arm redeem Your people”

“When the waters saw You, O God, when the waters say You, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled.”

“Your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook.”

“Your way was through the sea, Your path through the great waters; yet Your footprints were unseen.”

Isn’t that crazy? How great and powerful is our God!

Even though yesterday wasn’t exactly the way I had planned, I know that it was exactly the way the He planned and that makes it the was it was supposed to be. I learned from the experience and God brought some beautiful things to my attention, things I would have never learned or thought of otherwise.

To God be the glory.