In any good garden or farm, the planter has to do extensive work to prepare his field. After the planter has measured out the plot of land for his future garden, vineyard, or whatever, the first thing he does is till the ground to break up the hard dirt and bring the good soil to the top. He is preparing the future home for the seed. If a seed is well-planted and in good soil, of course the bud is going to soar to the heavens and yield a good fruit. This initial process of tilling the ground is hard work but it is entirely necessary for the strength of the future fruit and in order for there to be a successful harvest. So it is the case with “planting seeds” in ministry. It’s strenuous work to get that soil ready, but man, once the harvest is ready, it will bring the most amazing and tasty fruit!
In my previous post, I referenced three guys as Jim, Bob, and Joe. I’d like to tell you about my interaction and time with Jim. From the moment I met Jim, his personality intrigued me. He was not afraid of speaking English even though he struggled with it. He was eager to learn and quick to listen (something I learned from him). He appeared to be the kind of guy that people genuinely enjoyed being around. In large groups he was somewhat shy or quiet, but in one-on-one scenarios, he loved to chat. He was a good-looking fellow and was very interested in learning American culture.
I’ll pause here to explain a certain aspect of my personality. I have been gifted and cursed with a mouth that loves to talk. At times, when used for God’s glory, it is capable of shifting conversations in subtle ways with kingdom in mind. On the other end of the spectrum, when not used for his glory, it can shift it opposite directions just as subtly. At this time, I would LOVE to thank all of you who were praying for me in China because my tongue was used for his glory!
Returning to the story, Jim was very curious about different things in our culture. I had already spent about two days with him and God was telling me that it was time to drop it into the conversation…subtly. It was in the smallest ways and it was difficult at times. We would be listening to music on my Ipod, and then I would start playing Christian music. I specifically played the songs that were easily understood in English. God could use anything, so why not a song? Then I would ask questions about his beliefs (Buddhist) intentionally waiting for him to return questions about Christianity. So in almost every scenario you could think of, God was working in the conversations. It would almost always go back to Him.
Finally it came to the 3rd night and the conversation was flowing as we were preparing for bed. I had repeated over and over again how much God loved him and cared for him and wanted Jim to KNOW him intimately. I sensed the urgency of what God wanted to do so I finally asked him this question.
“Do you know that God wants to speak to you?”
Jim sat pensively as he spoke of the many gods that he had prayed to and never felt that they spoke back. I then asked if he wanted God, our God, to speak to him. Jim quickly responded, “YES!” I felt it necessary to iterate that God can speak in any language, so I asked him how he wanted God to speak to him. We know that God meets us we’re at. So he said “English.”
I thought, wow, ok God, he doesn’t speak much English, this can only be from you because we are asking you to speak to him in his dreams. So I prayed with Jim relying on God’s power to speak to us in our dreams. We went to bed.
During the night I awoke several times, almost as if I sensed something. I would quickly pray for my friend Jim and roll back over. Over and over through the night this occurred. Finally, we rose in the morning and I asked him what had happened.
He replied, ” I do not know if it was Jesus, but someone was speaking to me in English in my dream about the school we are starting. Can you explain what this means?”
I didn’t seek to explain to him what had happened, I did not know. The fact is that English was spoken to him in his dream and it was about the future school. He may not know the answer now, but I believe that God is going to use it later. I then prayed with Jim for his next night, that God would speak to him in his native language so that he could understand better.
The point was not whether or not a loud booming voice spoke to Jim saying, “Repent! Repent!” It was more an act of obedience and willingness. The soil had already been prepared. The hard dirt had been dug up so that the land was ready. Now all I had to do was the easy part of actually “planting” the seed. So I did. We went from completely separate beliefs to praying to the same God to speak to my friend Jim. God works, but he wants us to do work too and to trust that he’ll bring rain and the fruit will grow. I trust that God is going to saturate Jim and that he’ll grow and produce fruit. I’m just glad to till the ground and drop the seed through the power of Jesus.
*On a smaller note, I am still short on support to complete the race. Please pray and ask the Lord if he wants you to contribute financially or if you know others who would be interested. I am currently about $2000 short of what I need to finish. Thank you so much for your prayers and for reading the blogs!
