Come holy spirit come…
We sing at a worship service. I find myself wondering why exactly we’re singing these words. It’s not that I don’t deserve the HolySpirit to come. It’s not that I haven’t felt God’s Love or want more of it to simply overwhelm me…It is that I have just left a situation in which I felt the Spirit.
Admittedly, I don’t fit into this crowd. I am more conservative, more logic minded, more independent than most. These are not faults, of myself or others;just observations. We are in a Backpacker Lodge for our debrief. There are others staying in the lodge that have come from all over the world. So far I’ve met or rubbed elbows at the water kettle with Germans, Americans, south Africans and Japanese. It is a wonderful opportunity to witness to others, to be an example, and to show myself as different and unique.
This evening as we gather alone as World Racers in an unused studio in the Mantegna Cultural Art Market, we sing for the Holy Spirit to come. Yet, we just left a global assembly at the hostel. I met and befriended a Japanese man the first night we arrived. Tonight he asked me to arrange for him to address out entire group. When I tried to find out the subject of his speech, I got nothing. With such a loud, large, eclectic group there is no telling what he might have to say. He quietly, deliberately addressed the group by saying, “I don’t want to regret not saying something…This is the largest group of Americans I have ever seen and I need to take advantage of this opportunity.”.
Dia continued and thanked us and our country for helping his country and countrymen after the 2011 tsunami. Here in Swaziland, a Japanese man thanks a group of American missionaries for their support of last years worst natural disaster. It was so touching. Some people even cried at his heartfelt gratitude. I half smiled in awe and respect for his courage, thoughtfulness and candor. I felt the Lord in that moment. God was present. I felt liked I was understanding what my prayers really mean.
I have recently prayed to see others and love others as God sees and loves. Dia opened my heart to what I already possess but hadn’t embraced. Now I realize that the feeling I get when meeting new people, learning about their lives and cultures and talking about everything under the sun, is the way I feel love. When I love strangers in this way it is the Lord allowing me to Love His people by seeing them as a child of God.
The Lord answers prayers in ways we are never expecting! He uses the gifts He has given us to stretch His kingdom.
