Symbol of Shalom

Half way through the Sea Tribe trip, we took five days and served at Base Camp, building railings on the jetty. We also celebrated America's birthday and clocked in a lot of hours with South China Sea.

Though surrounded with American friends in a tropical land with a soothing vista, I experienced a week of inner frustrations. Engaging with God's Word proved difficult, an eye twitch began to develop at the sight of some people, and something seriously painful was attacking my stomach.

Perhaps it was a small taste of culture shock, or maybe spiritual warfare, but I knew an obvious low point was about to be cleared for landing. Everything seemed to frustrate me, no matter how small or insignificant. I felt anxious about relationships, about my role on the trip, about what the next islands would hold. Sinking in a pool of my own distress, I turned to God.

Over the course of the trip I had been praying to experience a characteristic of God in a deeper way. During some time alone on the beach I read 2 Thessalonians 3:16 which says, "Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you." I looked up and there the ocean waves calmly rolled up onto the shore. Steady, constant, and soothing. In all my trips to the beach, the ocean has always been a symbol of God's peace for me. In that moment I chose to give thanks to God for his peace that is available to me at all times and in every way. Reflecting over the past few weeks I realized where God coated me with his peace; language school, asking spiritual questions, being far away from home, and so on.

God didn't stop there. Images of the polluted waters surrounding the native islands flashed in my mind. Trash coated the ocean and it was hardly recognizable. At base camp the ocean was so pure, easily identifiable and enjoyable. Just like the ocean at Base Camp, this is the way God's peace is intended to be. But at neighboring islands the ocean was masked with trash, a picture of human depravity covering the peace of God. It's like my sin, my frustrations, my anxieties littering the sea, preventing me from experiencing the depth and richness of God's peace.

I still wrestled with frustrations through the rest of the week, but now the focal point did not land on the hardship. Rather I went to God presenting him with the annoying person or the stomach pain or relational messiness and asked for his peace. In doing so, I chose not to mask the peace of God with my garbage. Instead I experienced full peace, which he graciously gives at all times and in every way even when the circumstances were less than peaceful.

Ocean at base camp: God's symbol of shalom

American Independence celebration on July 4th complete with a bonfire and skits to entertain each other at base camp. The girls perform "This is Common Problems: Mistakes Americans make in Indonesia."

No, Clint is not trying to saw me in half, rather we are working hard while we accidentally knock nails into the ocean. . .oops.