God is Good...All the Time!

Ok, so I know my last two posts have been a little conflicting. Life is good and hard at the exact same time. It is an adventure but I still live in Africa so things are different and challenging. However, I have seen God meet me in hard places more than once in my short time of being away. Monday, of this week, I was struggling a lot with why I am here and why it has to be so hard and different. At chapel we sang the song Lord Reign In Me and it spoke directly to my heart. The lyrics are:

Over all the Earth
You reign on high
Every mountain stream every sunset sky
But my one request Lord my only aim
Is that you reign in me again

Lord reign in me
Reign in your power
Over all my dreams
In my darkest hour
You are the Lord of all I am
So won't you reign in me again

Over every thought
Over every word
May my life reflect the beauty of my Lord
'Cause you mean more to me than any Earthly thing
So won't you reign in me again

This song spoke to me so powerfully to me because I do feel like I am in a dark hour sometimes, but in those times I still want Him to be reigning in me. I want to know and experience Him when things are not good yet I want to still be a witness of His glory regardless of my own emotion. Also, the last verse is so impactful when it says over EVERY thought EVERY word my MY life reflect the BEAUTY of my LORD. Regardless of how I am feeling, regardless of any earthly trouble or accomplishment He is everything. I want him to reign in me while I experience and fall more deeply in love with Uganda. No matter if there is joy or strife, our God reigns!

Then that evening I was reading verses for class and we were asked to read Acts 2. I have had numerous people point me to Psalms and the life of David and other lonely people in the bible. Fortunately, or unfortunately, there are a lot of lonely people in the Bible but it is usually at this time that Jesus draws so close. He is the only concrete support anyone can stand on and it is often in "our darkest hour" that we fall into his arms. Peter addresses the crowd in the second chapter of Acts and quotes David. Acts 2:25-28 says:

David said about him:
I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will live in hope,
because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.

What an encouragement that no matter where we are,