I want to share a quick story of how my faith has been challenged and multiplied this month:
One night, our contact Johan chose 6 of us to go out for night ministry. We didn’t really know what it would entail but we met with him and found out that we were collectively going to ask the Lord where He wanted us to go and do ministry. Our contact explained, “We will all pray together and we will ask God to give us visions of this place we are to go and let Him direct our ministry. We will pray until God gives us all the same vision. It is simple.”
Simple was not the term I would use to describe it, but I was willing to give it a shot. I was certainly skeptical at first and I’ll admit that I doubted we would all get the same word from the Lord after praying individually. One by one we shared various things we felt that we had heard or seen during our prayers. “I see a coffee shop with chairs outside”… “I see the word ‘Pegasus’ and a horse”… “I see an oak tree”…each of these came from different girls. The three things I saw at separate times as I prayed were green street signs, a fountain and an old lamppost. I hesitated in sharing with the group because they seemed like silly and insignificant items but I shared anyhow.
Somehow, after all the things we listed, our contact was confident of the place in which we were to go: Grand Casino West. I’ve never been to Vegas, but a couple of girls that had said it was setup in a similar way. The slot machines and card tables were in the middle of the building but around it were indoor shops and restaurants that were made to look like you were outdoors. We paired off and walked around, praying for reasons why the Lord had brought us to this place. Just as I was thinking how crazy I felt for praying for these words and driving to a random casino, one of the girls pointed out a big red and white sign on the wall. It simply said “Pegasus” and had a big white horse on it. I’ll admit I freaked out a little and got super excited, I knew it wasn’t chance or coincidence we were here…this was where the Lord wanted us to be and it was cool to see it confirmed.
Then, we walked over to the other side of the casino where more “outdoor” shops were. As we approached my mouth had to have been wide open. There in the middle of the indoor courtyard was a big fountain with an old lamppost and green street signs. Oh, and it was also right next to a fake indoor oak tree, adjacent to a coffee shop with chairs outside. We could have left right then and that would have been ministry enough for me- the Lord ministering to me and proving to me that He speaks to me, that He speaks to all of us and He has purpose in the things He reveals to us…even the small things.
I knew after all that there must be someone there I needed to talk to. I prayed more about who it was and what I needed to share. Long story short, the Lord revealed the girl I needed to talk to and put Ezekiel 37 on my heart to share with her, which talks about bringing dead things to life. She was working at the coffee shop and I couldn’t seem to find a way to speak with her alone…so I bought a coffee, wrote what the Lord had given me on the back of the receipt, prayed for her to receive it well and then went for it. She was standing behind the counter with about 5-6 other employees and it was awkward, to say the least, trying to explain to her what I was trying to give her. Immediately after I handed her the message on the receipt all the women working with her gathered around and read it as well. The girl I gave it to primarily spoke Afrikaans, so another co-worker helped to translate.
After reading what I had written, one of her co-workers smiled at me and said, “You are like an angel, this is exactly what she needed and what we all needed!” I asked if I could pray for her and she, along with 2 other employees who were super excited for prayer, came out to the fountain to pray with me and a few of my teammates. It was truly amazing.
I’ve never experienced anything like it before, not because it was anything miraculous but I think simply because I don’t typically ask and wait for the Lord to direct me like that. That night I allowed the Lord to direct every move– we asked Him to direct us to the place, give us the person to speak to, what to say, even down to the time we should say it…and as with all things that are given over to the Lord, it was amazing.
My faith was multiplied that night. I felt so much joy but also sadness for all the times in my life I haven’t let the Lord direct my steps. What blew me away the most was that God cares so deeply for that girl I shared with to give me every detail of how and what to share with her on that specific night. It reminded me of how He cares for all of His children so intimately and how He desires to use us to do His work and be His hands, feet and mouthpiece.
I’m going to stop trying to plan my life for myself and start truly following His lead. My plans pale in comparison to what He has for me and I don’t want to miss it.
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed…In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” Proverbs 16: 3, 9
Our contact took this picture for me by the fountain, light post and street sign area the Lord revealed to me…such a cool night that I won't soon forget 🙂
