The trouble with God is that he makes us feel totally helpless and out of control. And still we resist him, until things get so unbearable that finally we break down and throw ourselves on his mercy. We have no claim on anything, and our dependence on God continues to grow until it is complete. We are his workmanship, from start to finish. Any and all goodness in us is the fruit of his initiative. Love is an ability he gives us that we did not have before. We did not choose it or create it. We are captured by it. Stronger than death, it burns like blazing fire. Rivers cannot wash it away, and nothing can persuade us to give it up.
Here in northern Mozambique lovers of Jesus are monuments to his grace, steadfast and immovable in the face of Satan's worst. Their faith, love, and joy are everlasting gifts from above, producing an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.
- Rolland Baker