Last week was a week of testing for me, and an unveiling of the weak condition of my spirit man.
The Word says in Ephesians 6
to put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places…having done all to stand, stand therefore!
After arriving in Mozambique, we were told that we would be working with a small orphanage out in the bush with 23 children who literally have nothing.
It is not an orphanage as you and I would most likely think with a building, running water, and electricity.
This orphanage was built of large green tarps and wooden beams.
The children sleep on thin straw mats, have very little clothing, no shoes, and make toy trucks out of coat hanger wire and old coke cans.
They eat the same thing every night and walk about 2 km to fetch water for drinking and bathing.
The bathroom facilities consist of a hole full of maggots and flies swarming, the shower consists of two bricks, a bucket, and a mud puddle.
We arrived on Sunday afternoon with our tents, gear, and the small amount of food and water that was available at the supermarket.
We had great expectations to set up a kid’s camp type of atmosphere with songs, games, Bible lessons, etc.
As time wore on, our expectations slowly began to fade as we realized that not one of the children spoke English and that the leader of the orphanage spoke very little English as well.
Communication was very difficult and we often found it a challenge to communicate what we wanted to get across to the children.
Eric, the orphanage caregiver, asked us to help teach the children English.
So we started with basic vocabulary, colors, numbers, and the alphabet.
I especially enjoyed one day when we made home visits to the surrounding area and prayed for the local people who needed a touch from God.
One older man had broken his hip and the doctors never reset it, so his leg had grown back sideways with his toes facing inward.
Another lady testified that her mother had recently started going crazy and running in and out of the bushes like a mad woman.
A concerned father asked if we would pray for his little girl who was having seizures and passing out on her way to school and in class.
We also laid hands on a young mother who had recently given birth to two beautiful babies, a boy and girl, who had an obvious skin disease spreading throughout on their heads.
Even though we didn’t see the fruit while we were there, God is sovereign and I believe He is working mightily in each of these people’s lives.
The week was particularly very challenging for me.
I didn’t struggle so much with the living conditions as I did with the condition of my spirit man.
I was definitely attacked physically in weariness, dehydration, and the fun side effects of malaria meds, but more than that God revealed to me the poor condition of my spirit.
I don’t think I ever realized the importance of putting to death the flesh, so my spirit could fully come alive until it was too late to make things right.
At the end of the week, I realized I missed it.
I missed sharing the heart of God to these children to the capacity that He desired, because my spirit was too weak, and my flesh rose above.
Over the weekend, after leaving the site, I took it to God, repented, and asked Him to teach me, show me where I went wrong and what I needed to do different.
I dug in the Word and He revealed Matthew 26:41 and Romans 8 to me:
Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation, the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Matthew 26:41
Jesus told His disciples this after they had fallen asleep in the garden of Gethsemane.
He asked, What could you not watch with me one hour?
Jesus was facing the reality of His crucifixion, asked His disciples and friends to sit with Him, yet they fell asleep.
How sad is it that many times God gives a short time that He just wants us to sit with Him, to pray and intercede, or spend a week with a group of orphans, yet we fall asleep.
Why?
In Romans, it states:
For those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what that nature desires.
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap life everlasting.
Galatians 6:8
I would encourage you to read Romans 8.
Its powerful and speaks directly to this issue of the spirit vs. the flesh.
We are spirit beings and called to live in accordance with the spirit, not the flesh, but we must sow into the spirit.
The spirit brings life; our flesh will only bring death and destruction.
I pray you will be full of the spirit and led by this truth in the Word, that you would have strength to put to death the flesh and rise above the sinful nature.
God be with you!
