Where we ought to be

'...the great point for our comfort in life is to have a well-grounded persuasion that we are where, all things considered, we ought to be...The promise, 'My grace is sufficient for thee,' is necessary to support us in the smoothest scenes, and is equally able to support us
in the most difficult...He is always near. He knows our wants, our dangers, our feelings, and our fears. By looking to him we are enlightened and made strong out of weakness. With his wisdom for our guide, his power for our protection, his fullness for our supply, and
proposing his glory as our chief end, and placing our happiness in his favour, in communion with him, and communications from Him, we shall be able to 'withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.'
~exerpt of a letter from John Newton to William Wilburforce

I was reminded of this quote while reading an update from a friend whose young daughter has just undergone another surgery for her rare and invasive cancer. She said these words encouraged her. Pray, Gentle Readers, for Karina to respond well to her cancer treatments and be healed.

This morning I also read an amazing example of people being where they ought to be. Two doctors (a married couple) minister in Uganda, raising their family among heart-breaking poverty and the ravishes of AIDS. If you have a moment, look at their post today about some of the children they are treating. And if you need more proof of the amazing ministry taking place in this place, read this article about last year's ebola virus battle. I don't know these folks, and only found their web site through a link here. As I have read their blog reports, I have been amazed by the sacrifices these folks have made to be where they ought to be. I praise God for their willingness to follow Him into this remote place. And yet, it shames me, and makes me wonder if I am, indeed, where I ought to be.

Jennifer Myhre closes the above article with these words, appropriate for us all:

There is a weighty glory to surviving ebola, a redemption only God can give. Even our personal survival constitutes a sort of burden to be considered. It is good to be alive, and God has been glorified by the substantial, tangible story of our deliverance, and by the concrete good that has emerged from loss. This good and glory anchor us in new ways to our Lord, and require us to examine our purpose for being preserved in Bundibugyo. Let us all live each new day in the gravity of the gift that has been given to us.