Imagine this.
There are 12 of us from two different teams for the World Race that are
serving together in Australia this month. We are riding this train to get to
our Sunday morning worship service at the Sudanese refugee church. One of the guys from the other team,
Caleb, after about 20 minutes on the train ride, gets up from his seat and asks
this guy that is sitting a couple rows in front of him if he can sit by him for
a few minutes. With two guys in a
seat together, it can get pretty crowded.
There are full open seats everywhere on the train, but the guy says, “No
problem, mate.”
Caleb: Hi man, my name is Caleb.
Robert: I’m Robert.
Caleb: Well I’m here with my team. We’re traveling all over the world as missionaries, and
we’re in Australia for a month. Where
we’re staying has people from all over the world, but I realized that I don’t
know very many Australians yet, and I thought I could get to know one a little
bit.
Robert: Well, I’m getting off on the next stop, so you have
one stop to get to know me.
(They talk about where Robert is from in Australia and make
small talk for a few seconds.)
Caleb: Sometimes, I feel like I need to tell people
something that they need to hear from God.
Robert: (nods his head, and doesn’t really say anything)
Caleb: God is a loving God, and even when life gets us down
and we don’t know what we’re supposed to be doing, He will always be there for
you. I know that’s probably not
something that you thought somebody would tell you on the train today. (Nervous
laugh.)
Robert: (nods his head again, and kinda half-way smiles)
stop. He got up, didn’t really say
anything to Caleb, and walked off the train. Caleb got up and went back to his seat, but I watched Robert
as he walked off of the train. You
could almost see the wheels turning in his head. I don’t think that he had any idea why someone would tell
him something like that on a train.
He looked a little bit confused, but I really believe that what Caleb
said out of obedience, planted a seed in Robert and made him think. I know that Caleb only talked to Robert
because God specifically told him to, therefore what He said was a word from
God.
My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and
will prosper in what I send it to do.”
Isaiah 55:11
Caleb was obedient to God even when it was awkward.
short, I went to my room 3 times to go to bed and God told me 3 times to leave
again and go pray with another one of the YWAMers that were leaving on outreach
the next day. These were not
difficult things to do, and God has definitely asked me to do crazier things,
but just the fact that I had to be listening and willing to do whatever He
asked was the point. There have
been so many times where I heard the voice of God telling me to do something
specific, and I have ignored it. I
feel like God is going back to the basics for me and bringing me forward in
baby steps. In 1 Samuel 15:22b it says,
“Look: to obey is better than sacrifice.” I feel like God is asking me to be obedient, and sometimes that means that I will have to sacrifice…whether the sacrifice is material possessions, time, or even pride.
