Only Sustain Me...

"Lord, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. Sever any ties but the tie that binds me to Thy service and to Thy heart." - David Livingstone

I hope you remember this part of the movie, Tangled. It's exactly what my mind has gone through over the past month, emotionally. What with the excitement of a 30-day countdown, and now a 7-day countdown- plus the sadness of leaving my job and already having said goodbye to several of my good friends- plus the frustration of packing, repacking, and then taking everything back out to reevaluate what I need- plus the nerves and even slight anxiety of moving to a country where I've never set foot, traveling across the world alone, having to exchange currency without someone to do the math for me...

In a nutshell, my emotions have gone crazy.

So when God wants to get a point across to me, He usually lays a particular word or phrase on my heart, and it pops up EVERYWHERE for at least a month, or until I have learned what He wants to teach me regarding that subject. During this month of insanity, that phrase has been "...only sustain me."

I came across this quote by David Livingstone as I was preparing to present a message at Shreveport Life Church, and as I read it, something sparked in me. Sustain. 

David Livingstone was a famous missionary to Africa- one of the first, actually. He was so dedicated that he even went years at a time without seeing his family, or any white people at all. He faced malaria among other diseases, a lion attack that maimed one of his arms, and was partially blinded from a tree branch that hit him in the eye. In this frail condition, he returned to his homeland in Scotland to present a lecture at a school. He hobbled across the platform, silently demanding the respect and attention of every student in the room. 

"Shall I tell you what sustained me amidst the trials and hardship and loneliness of my exiled life?" he asked. And then he gave them the answer. "It was a promise, the promise of a gentleman of the most sacred honor; it was this promise, 'Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.'" (Matt. 28:20)

The way I figure, if God can sustain David Livingstone through all the craziness he went through- not to mention Paul the apostle, each of the disciples, Daniel in the lions' den, the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, Esther in the court of the king, and so many, many others- if He can sustain each of them in their moments of weakness, fear, and crazy emotions, surely He can sustain me. 

And He has. And He will. 

Psalm 55:22, "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved." (ESV)

And He will sustain you, too. 

Love and prayers, 

<3 robin