Night of the Frogs

by Peggy Cunningham @Inca_Writer

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; for he acknowledges my name.”                                                                                                                                   Psalm 91:14 NIV

As I sipped tea, the frog perched on top of my lamp caught my eye. I had to laugh as I instantly thought of the Night of the Frogs. It happened years ago in the little mud house we called home for a time. But unlike my ceramic frog, the frogs that night were real.

We’d arrived at the mission school to join the staff after less than a month in Bolivia and moved into the “farmhouse.” The school rested on a flat valley plain. A short walk from there was a breath-taking panorama of acres of fields. At the bottom of the hill sat the “farmhouse,” a little mud home in the middle of nowhere.

After settling in, my husband left for the city eight hours away to buy a refrigerator, leaving our five-year-old daughter and me alone. There were no neighbors, no lights outside, and no way to communicate with anyone at the school. I dreaded the moment when the generator turned off at night to leave me with only candlelight.

On the second night alone, I heard a strange noise. I nervously peered out the kitchen window to where the sound was loudest. Pitch. Black. It sounded like a motorcycle trying to start.

After it continued for what seemed like hours, my imagination was going wild. Hell’s Angels came to mind. Could there be similar gangs in this remote area? Were they waiting for the generator to shut down to make their move? Who could come to our rescue?

More scared for my daughter than myself, I knew I had to get a grip. I began to think about Paul’s letter to Timothy. Like Timothy, we were in the youth of our ministry. Fear was something we had in common. I thought about Paul’s encouragement to him.

“I call to remembrance the faith that is in you…” (2 Timothy 1:5 NIV). Paul first reminded him of the faith he’d seen in him. Maybe that if that statement were given today, it would sound like, Hey, Tim, you can do this! Then came Paul’s powerful reminder: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7 NIV).

Fear is not from God and paralyzes a ministry. Faith in God powers our ministry. Believe. Pray. A calm settled over me as I chose to trust God to take care of us.

Then, a knock at the door. I inched forward to see a familiar face looking back at me through the window. It was our son’s dorm parent, Mike. Telling him my concerns, he took a quick look outside. Nothing. But then the noise started again. I whispered, “There, do you hear it?”

Mike burst into laughter. “It is frogs making that sound.”

No way! Chagrined, I asked, “Do they have little motorcycles?” We laughed until we wept.

That eerie night I learned to trust that God would always be with me. There would always be fears to face, but I did not face them alone. When we choose to trust God, He moves us from fear to faith.

TWEETABLE
Night of the Frogs – insight from Peggy Cunningham @Inca_Writer on @AriseDailyDevo (Click to Tweet)

About the author: Peggy Cunningham and her husband, Chuck have been missionaries in Bolivia, South America, since 1981. In 1999, they founded Rumi Rancho Ministries. Rumi Rancho is their ministry base and home outside the city of Cochabamba where they work with the Quechua people and have a children’s ministry.

Peggy is also a published author of several children’s books and women’s devotionals. Shape Your Soul is her latest devotional book for women, available on Amazon.

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