Have you ever felt like you are going through the motions
but not knowing if you are making a difference? Well, that is how I felt this
particular morning….We were going about our normal hut-to-hut ministry and we
had been walking for about twenty minutes when we arrived at this house. We
went inside, expecting to go into a room where we would sit and pray for the
family and encourage them, as we had done every other day. Instead, we walked
into a bedroom where a young lady (20 years old) named Grace was lying getting
an IV in her arm. I immediately knew that this day was going to be different.
Thoughts started going through my mind – I felt incompetent,
helpless. What did we have to offer her, other than prayer? I wish we could do
more…but God has a purpose for us being here. If that means that we walk from
hut-to-hut and pray for people, it is a yes in Christ. If we are to preach at
seminars and bible studies while sweating buckets, the answer is yes in Christ.
If we are to struggle through listening to sermons because either we can’t hear
the translator or we only are able to hear parts of it so we can’t understand
the whole message, the answer is yes in Christ. The enemy can convince us that
our ministry work is about us, but the reality is that it is so much bigger
than us – it is about Christ.
It is so easy to get complacent isn’t it?! Even on the World
Race, I’ve found that the day-to-day tedious tasks of waking up, getting ready,
going to work, etc. can begin to form a routine that honestly gets a little
boring. It is like you are going through the motions but never really being
present where you are. However, God does not call us to be complacent. God
calls us to glorify Him in everything we do. It can be easy to start looking at
the “green pasture on the other side,” or “man I can’t wait till next month,
year, etc,” I’m learning that we must be thankful for where you are. God has
your right where He wants you to be, even if it is difficult.
Like I said, when we walked in, my heart immediately went
out to her. Grace got a smile on her face and was so grateful that we came and
saw her. She continued to say what a blessing it was for us to come and she
told us how God was going to heal her. Grace had such faith! Grace wanted to
then share with us a word from the Lord with us and proceeded to share with us
about how much God loved her and us. She even sang a song, although I could see
the pain she was in was almost unbearable. I got a little teary eyed because
here we were there to come and encourage her, but instead even with her sickle
cell anemia and extreme pain, she was encouraging us.
It is so easy to go about each day and forget to be present
in each moment. God has big plans for each of us and He does not want us to get
comfortable. He wants us to get out and be active in our faith. Let me ask you,
are you complacent with your life or are you actively seeking what the Father
has for you? Each day is a new day to wake up and serve Jesus! I never want to
wish the time away again, but instead be happy with where I am at and serve
Jesus and love others.
