How does God show himself to be faithful when our hearts are broken?

1 Thessalonians 5:24 - The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

Clair Frith writes...

For those of you who don't know me I have been living in Edinburgh for the last two and a half years. Kyan and I moved with our three children from the beautiful island of Guernsey to study applied theology at The Faith Mission Bible College.

 How did we end up here?

Kyan has his own story to tell, but my journey began in 2010 when I felt God really stirring my heart about the needs of women… so many broken women, in broken relationships, with broken families and broken children… women caught in vicious circles that only God can break.

What was I to do about it?

I considered working with women in prison, in the local refuge, with teenage girls in schools or with struggling families, but the doors either would not open or were quickly shut. I was feeling increasingly frustrated. I had a real burden. I could see the work that needed to be done, but I had no idea how to get started.

This carried on for nearly two years, then, in 2012, I did a Bible study based on the book of Nehemiah entitled “A Heart That Can Break”. The woman writing the study pointed out that Nehemiah’s heart was broken for his people and she asked the question “What breaks your heart?” Answering this question was easy for me, I knew what broke my heart, as mentioned above, but when it came to what I was going to do about it I didn’t have a clue.

I continued to work and pray through the study and came to see that Nehemiah’s heart was breaking and there was only one thing for it, he had to get up and go! He had to leave the comforts of the palace in Susa, head to Jerusalem and get on with the work. As I read that, I felt God saying to me "Can the things that I have placed in your heart be achieved if you stay here in Guernsey, your comfortable place, your Susa?" It was then that I realised God was calling me, not just Kyan, to Bible college in order to prepare and equip me so that I would then be in a better position to work for Him, rebuilding the 'walls of brokenness' I saw around me.

Please believe me when I say the decision was not easy. I prayed it through, made excuses and wrestled with God. I was full of doubts. I didn’t think I was capable! However, after months of wrestling with God and no peace, I finally surrendered to Him and came to Edinburgh for our interview in October 2012. The minute we arrived at the college, we both had such an overwhelming sense of peace, there was no denying where God wanted us to be.

Did we make the right decision?

So here we are, three years later. We’ve survived two years of study and miraculously made it out the other side with a diploma each and, much to our surprise, a fourth child!

During our time at college I have learnt so muchabout our great God, His word and myself, but aside from all of this I think the biggest lesson I have learnt is that our God is the God of the impossible and He is faithful. He will never ask us to do something or to go somewhere and then leave us in the lurch - He will provide, help, strengthen and guide every step of the way.   I can testify to the fact that the words of 1 Thessalonians 5:24 are so true. “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”

Next steps and reflections

In December, we will be stepping out as a family on the next leg of the journey, joining The Faith Mission and taking on the running of one of their camp centres in the rural village of Harby in Leicestershire.

You might be wondering how this fits into the plan of rebuilding the ‘broken walls’. Truth is that at the moment I’m not quite sure. I have lots of ideas, but once heard someone say that “not everything that’s good is God”, in other words just because something seems like a good idea doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s God’s idea or what he wants you to be doing! I would ask that you join me in praying for God to reveal what He wants me to be doing and how He wants me to be doing it.

What about you? What breaks your heart? What really burdens you? What does God want you to do about it?

Don’t hold back! You won’t regret it!

Clair x