In Awe of God’s Unending Guidance
by Megan Walker, PCJH’s Whitworth Fellow
Since I first arrived in Jackson nearly two weeks ago, I have started each day at my desk looking at a card that my dad mailed me months ago. His short note was accompanied by this anthem:
“Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness.
Morning my morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.”
The Lord has always been faithful, but over the past five years, I have begun to learn how to look for and recognize His movement. In 2014, I was graduating from Gig Harbor High School with sadness that I wouldn’t be attending any college in the fall. It had been my dream to attend Whitworth University in Spokane and I felt disappointment and discomfort at diverting from the typical post-high school path that leads to higher education. After several months of continuing to work, living with my parents, and pursuing other schooling options, I began thinking about joining a global missions organization, YWAM. Youth With A Mission had always been a part of my life because both my mom and dad worked with them for years. After a year of the discernment and preparation process, I got on a plane to Toowoomba, Australia.
During the six-month program, I traveled to Thailand and it was there that I felt my heart break and be drawn towards a missional life style. I prayed to stay overseas, but without hearing a “YES” I returned to the states. The following three years brought me to Spokane, lots of job and ministry experience, and my sweetest friends. The Lord was faithful in giving me those gifts through life in Spokane to sustain me through transition and my struggle with mental health.
Eventually, I got tired of waiting and began to plan a path back into the mission field. But out of nowhere, the Lord called me to school – a dream that I had given over to Him and moved past years ago. I say that I was called because He provided all resources, complete peace, and it was quite random. Every day this past year I was reminded that the Lord is faithful to see, know, and honor me as I was walking around Whitworth University, enjoying time dedicated to school and studying theology.
My journey to Jackson for this summer proved again that he is faithful to see what I need before I know I need it. My first days in Jackson were really exciting but left me confused at the restlessness I had felt from moment to moment. I prayed constantly yet couldn’t find words for what I needed, so I clung to this:
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” -Romans 8:26-27
Exactly one week after arriving, I was driving through the Elk Refuge in the evening and pulled off to the side to see the brightest rainbow I had ever seen from start to end. A tangible, perfectly timed, absolutely beautiful reminder of His faithfulness not only to me, but here in Jackson. I can’t wait to hear stories of his movement and faithfulness throughout the next couple of months I have in what is possibly my new favorite place!
Recognizing God’s faithfulness is proof of His grace. Being reminded of God’s faithfulness is being encountered by Him. I have been waiting to be in Jackson for what feels like a long time, and now all I can do to express my gratefulness for the gift of being sent here for the summer is, “Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, Unto me.”
