Just a Moment Longer

 

I visited a village in India that broke my heart. It was our third week of ministry, and it had been a while since we spent some time praying in the villages. This night of prayer out reach was like no other I had experienced before. Usually I would pray for each person according to their requests and then move on to the next house. I felt disconnected. But this night was different. The first people we prayed for asked for healing in their eyes. But as I prayed for them, I felt like there was something more than physical healing they needed. The prayers that were being formed on my lips were for their spiritual eyes to be opened. That they would see the love of Christ all around them. That they would know the truth of God and boldly proclaim the love of God to the community around them. It didn’t end there. I turned around and saw another woman. Her eyes were filled with sorrow. I asked if I could pray for her. She seemed hesitant, but then ultimately said yes. She too gave me the sense of hopelessness, which cut deep into my heart. I wanted to offer her more than just prayer. I wanted to stay and spend time loving her. But our ministry doesn’t allow us such privileges. So I moved on. The next person we came upon was a woman who needed prayer for health. She had a red dot on her forehead and our translator asked why she had it if she was a Christian. She explained that she just recently accepted Jesus into her life and hasn’t fully accepted him into her heart. So we prayed for protection over her house and her heart. That the chains that are binding her and keeping her from fully accepting Jesus into her heart, would be broken and she would be set free. From there we visited a woman and her grand son. She was a beautiful woman, full of the love of Christ. It was a blessing to pray with her. The pastor explained that there were far more homes to visit than we had time for, so we would go along the street and pray for the community. As we began to do this, we were called to one last house to quickly pray. Then I saw an old woman sitting there. She looked frail and lonely. I left the person we had prayed for to sit with her. I began to pray with her when the pastor tried to hurry us back to the church. I felt in my heart like I should stay and pray. So I stayed, for just a moment longer to pour love into this woman. My squad leader stayed along wi me as we prayed with her. When we were done, another person brought a child for us to pray with. I wanted to stay but the pastor kept urging us to leave for the church for our ministry to the children. That day I didn’t want to go do a children’s program. I wanted to stay in the village and love and encourage the people there. The village was so full of pain and hurt and hopelessness. My heart was drawn there. But my responsibilities were calling me else where. The world race is full of great opportunities, but it is also full of heart breaks and disappointments. Sometimes there are going to be people you want to spend more time loving when you aren’t able to. That’s where I learn to treasure the moments I get. They are so fleeting. Soon my journey on the race will be over and so will the moments I have with people who touch my heart. 

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May You delight yourself in The Lord today.

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May You delight yourself in The Lord today.