It was just a normal Monday – but it started at 5 am and a beautiful view just before sunrise outside our lodge. We had a big day ahead of us, one that would stand out to me as a highlight of the trip – they say you can’t go to Malawi without seeing it, yet many Malawians have never been there. It stands along almost the whole eastern border of this tiny country. If you haven’t guessed it yet, I’m talking about the beautiful Lake Malawi.
The beach was pretty empty but inviting. The waves were calm and almost reminiscent of an ocean. The water felt fantastic, but because Sam doesn’t know how to swim, he wouldn’t go out too far with me. I probably went about 25-30 feet out into the water, all alone. And it became one of those moments when the world seems to pause for a little while. Nothing else mattered. Time did not exist in my mind, it was just me and the lake and the mountains. The MOUNTAINS! They could be seen all around me. I looked to the left, they were there. I looked to the right, they were there. I looked in front of me, and still they were there! It wasn’t long before I noticed my quietest voice start to sing, “How GREAT is our God.” I started to sing for my audience of One.
Sometimes it’s difficult, however, to venture out alone into the unknown. It is difficult when you’re not surrounded by others. I don’t think anyone wants to experience the loneliness that going into the unknown often brings.
My reflection on this particular highlight of Malawi brought a thought to my mind last night of the new journey set before me. I soon will be leaving a place that has become home to me, a place where I am so surrounded that I am trying to plan out what I will do with others during my every single last day here. I will go back to the United States and be surrounded again by those who I have not seen in so long. And then I will move. And I will move alone.
But I think it’s in those lonely times, in those times when we take the risk to venture out into the middle of the lake all by ourselves, that we are able to come closer to God. The distraction of others is no longer there to keep us from seeing the beauty of Christ in the world around us. And in those intimate times with God, we realize that loneliness doesn’t have to exist – because the God who created the universe is the same God that wants to experience life WITH us every day. How GREAT is OUR God.
