Since I have been in Africa, one of the things the Lord has been teaching me is the importance to slow down and rest. I’m not talking about resting as in taking a nap, but resting in that God is in control and He has awesome things to show me. My teammates and I like to joke around about ‘Africa time’ and that it is at least 2 hours behind our normal American time. Life in Africa is slow. Not a dreadful boring slow, but a sweet kind of slow, like raw honey dripping from a spoon. The kind of slow where people stop to pick the wildflowers that are growing through the heaps of trash on the side of the African dirt road. The kind of slow where I am not so busy with this and that, and I actually slow down and am finally still enough to allow him to speak and love me tenderly.
Coming to month one of the Race, I honestly had so many expectations as to what life on the Race would look like. Not that I am dissappointed, but I was just discouraged that the second week in hasn’t looked at all what I thought it would look like. I came expecting a sonrise to sundown packed schedule of ministry where I would be touching many lives of those around me. I knew we would have off days and down time to be with our teams and have time to reflect and be with the Lord, however, I did not expect our schedule to be so loose. I expected that suddenly fear wouldn’t be an obstacle and I would preach and evangelize to anyone and everyone I came in contact with. I came expecting to see God and to see God in big ways. Not that those expectations are wrong to have, they are great expectations to have, however I expected them all to happen within the first week of being in Cote D’Ivoire. And I expected them to happen because of who I am istead of who He is. Sometimes ministry doesn’t look like what you expect, and that’s okay. Like my friend Mercy reminded me before I left for the Race, God is the one in control and is the one who ultimately calls the shots. This is something I have had to release to the Lord and often times have to remind myself of several times throughout the day. Life (the Race) is only what you are willing to put in and make of it. When we release all control and our expectations to the Lord, He is able to do great things, and we are able to experience life in its fullness.
When we are too consumed with having our expectations met, we miss out on what God is actually doing right in front of us. With this thought in mind, I stop and reflect on what the Lord has done and the things we have experinced since my team and I have been here. The first day we were given an opportunity to feed widows and see many of them radically healed by Daddy God. Many were dancing and running in circles rejoicing in their healing and the pain that is now gone. We did an all night prayer vigil with the local church we are working with, and saw many hearts saved and souls set free. We’ve been encouraged by the youth here who speak with great boldness and zeal to share Jesus with those in their community during evangelism. Every Sunday we go to church for five hours. I don’t really like calling it church. It’s more like a celebration of singing, laughing, and dancing. Lots of dancing. We’ve even been able to experience an Ivorian wedding, something that was secretly a desire of mine to experience while on the Race. We worship together a lot.
The truth is, I thought that I would be making a radical difference in the lives of others, when in reality, the people of the Ivory Coast, as well as my team, are the ones who have made a difference in my life. So sometimes Ministry doesn’t look like a packed schedule of ministry, sometimes it looks like picking up trash around the compound you live at or organizing the Pastor’s library. Sometimes it looks like evangelizing with the church’s youth group as you smile and nod and speak the very little French you know. Sometimes it’s sitting on the stoop (balcony of compound hostel where we live for the month) with your teammate crying, laughing, and praying with each other late at night, and sometimes it’s feeding rice and groceries to a village of widows. Sometimes, Actually ALWAYS, God’s plans and reality are far better than our plans or expectations.
My challenge to those of you reading this is to slow down and not become overwhelmed by the busyness of your life. Allow yourself to slow down and rest to be with the Lord. I promise there is great reward with slowing down to pick the flowers. There is great reward in being still to hear the tender whispers that your heavenly Father speaks over you. And there is great reward in laying your expectations at the feet of Jesus and trusting that He is the one that calls all the shots. For when he is the one calling the shots, amazing things happen.
Peace and Blessings,
Mallorie
