“And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
The joy of the Lord is our strength. What if we stopped quoting that verse and started actually living it out? In Nepal, I actually saw that truth transform a life. I saw a blind woman dance with Jesus on top of a mountain.
Let’s start from the beginning:
Nepal was a whirlwind of a month. It marked the half-way point of my eleven months of the World Race. For ministry in this country, my team and another team went on a fifteen-day trek to four different villages in the Nepali mountains. We were led by a local pastor and a translator from Kathmandu. Our team slept on the ground in three different village churches and one small local school.
We were able to go to homes and visit with the local natives. We prayed over people, homes, and land. Most of our ministry was prayer and preaching this month. The Lord did miraculous things as we lifted up everything to Him. He healed a man’s wrist. It was really awesome. Some of the Hindu people we prayed for even started going to church after we visited them. Talk about how Jesus works!
Well, one day we hiked for eight hours to a local village only accessible by foot. It was located on top of a mountain. The views were breathtaking. As soon as we arrived at this remote village, we were greeted with lots of smiles and so much hospitality. They made us lunch and gave us a cool place to sit out of the sun.
Following this time, one of my teammates was able to share the great news of the Gospel to all of the people who gathered in the middle of this village square. There were people who were already Christians and people who had never even heard of the name of Jesus. It was the Great Commission in living, breathing form. After the message, many people asked for prayer.
The second woman we prayed for changed my view of Jesus completely. She was an old woman probably in her seventies who had lost her vision. As we started talking to her, she shared her story. Her family physically and emotionally abused her throughout the years. She lost her vision when a member of her family threw rocks at her face.
A member of our group started telling her how much Jesus loves her, how proud He was of her, and how strong really she was. As he was speaking these truths, the woman started crying. I was holding her in my arms and then I started to cry. I couldn’t even imagine the pain this woman has gone through in her life.
At that moment, as we were both sobbing, the Lord reminded me of His promise that He is near to the brokenhearted. He mourns with those who mourn. I started praying for the Lord to comfort her and to pour oceans of His love and faithfulness into her. Then another girl in my group and myself embraced this beautiful woman and cried. We then sat down with her and stayed with her as the rest of our group continued on to pray for other people in the village. I rubbed her back and prayed for her as we sat in silence.
Then all of the sudden, the woman got up with her walking stick and took us with her to a small home. She then proceeded to go in and get us two packages of coconut cookies that she had. I was beyond myself at the selflessness that this woman was showing us. She who had nothing blessed us with cookies. We thanked her in Nepalese, and she grabbed our arms for another huge hug. She then started laughing and smiling.
Then the incredible happened, she started dancing! She moved around holding her stick and our arms. With the biggest smile on her face, she danced and danced and danced. The joy of the Lord caused her to dance! One of the men in our group joked that she was drunk on the Holy Spirit. It was so true. This blind woman danced with Jesus, nothing holding her back, no pain, no tears, no shame. It was the most beautiful thing.
It was a moment I will never forget. The joy of the Lord gave her strength, hope, and life. I have never seen someone so alive. I know that Jesus heard our prayers and her cries for help. He heard and showered her in His abundant grace and joy, so much so that it caused her feet to move, to dance. She had no money, no family, nothing that would cause someone in this world to dance. The only thing that caused her to dance was God Himself and all of His goodness.
I pray that I when life gets hard, that I will live life on the edge of radical joy and hope. I will dance with Jesus all the days of my life. I pray that the joy of the Lord will be my strength and my portion forever. And I pray that for you as well.
And that is my story of only one of the number of incredible things Jesus is doing in Nepal.
