Often I wonder why.

Your first teaching job is hard enough even when it’s in your own familiar community.

Why in the world did I decide to spend my first two years as a teacher, at a British school, in an African country, with a culture completely different than they one I’ve lived in for nearly the whole 23 years of my life? Am I trying to set myself up for a breakdown or something?

I’m gonna be honest (as always), in the last 3 1/2 weeks I’ve had a lot of stressors, some questioning what in God’s name I’m doing and whether it was the right choice. Why is Kampala so big and busy? Will I ever meet friends here? Is it possible for me to be a light to my co-workers?

My fears may be legitimate but that doesn’t mean that’s where my mind has to linger, because there’s a bigger truth out there.

Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

I like to think of it as the Nike of Bible Verses, telling us to “Just Do It.”

When times are hard or unclear, you have to keep pressing forward to get through it. When tragedy happens, you don’t sit and wallow forever, you eventually learn to move on the best you can and put your life back together, because you have to.

The bible says it so clearly: You, me, we all, can do ANYTHING because Jesus Christ gives us strength. And who could have more strength than the man who was beaten, ridiculed, murdered, dead for three days and then rose from the grave and loved the very people who tormented him and called out from the crowd for him to be killed?

Time and time again I’ve seen myself and others fail or not reach full potential because we’ve tried to do something out of our own strength. But that’s not how this world was created to be. Things are difficult and scary and uncomfortable, but YOU can do all things when you ask Jesus to be your strength. You can ask God to take away your troubles, but He doesn’t want you to weasel your way around your problems, He wants you to power through them, relying fully on Him, not yourself. Even the stumbling blocks the devil puts in front of you God can use for His glory, if you depend on Him to carry you through.

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

-Matthew 19:26

“In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” -Romans 8:37

It doesn’t matter if my job is hard or if learning to live in Uganda is hard; I can do it all if I ask for God to give me the strength.  When you’re a Christian, there’s no need to ever wonder if something is possible because we believe it is. Jesus said so.

So when you’re struggling, keep pressing on towards the Father. Don’t stop and question the goodness of God because the enemy is begging to see you stumble. When you don’t know if you can, just do it, because the creator of the universe is rooting for you and He gives strength to all those that ask. Just do it, because, with God, you can.

Often things feel hard as I continue to settle into my new life but I hold tightly to the promises God made to me. He promised to deliver me back to Uganda and He did, so I have to believe it was for a purpose. He doesn’t do things on accident or just willy nilly. As I squirm and complain and wonder what in the world is going on with my life, He is molding me to trust more deeply in Him and He is continuously preparing me for what is to come.

With God “Can I?” turns into “I Can.”

And Just Do It into Just Did It.