It’s funny how sometimes we have a hard time seeing the fruit in our actions. There are times when we keep giving, day in and day out, and see nothing in return. Honestly, sometimes it just takes time and we have to release control into God’s hands. Although, lately God has been showing me that there can be instant fruit if we are looking for it. I’ve heard many people say, “God works in mysterious ways”. I don’t really believe that. I do believe that there are many facets to God that my natural mind will never be able to comprehend. And hey, who wants to serve a God we can understand?! I love knowing that my God is SO much bigger than I can ever fully comprehend, however, He is so personable to me at the same time! THAT is freaking SWEET. Just saying. With that said, I also don’t believe God keeps Himself from us like this magician not wanting to reveal His tricks. God wants us to “get it”. God wants us to see fruit in our own lives and the lives of those we minister do. Sometimes if we look closely, we can SEE what He is doing.
He’s been showing me this a lot in Peru this past week. Saturday, I had the great honor to share His word on the radio! It’s a secular radio station, but our contact gets an hour everyday to share worship music, God’s Word and encouraging scriptures! What an opportunity to minister to those whom we cannot physically reach. I was beyond humbled at the moment to play a part in what God is doing all throughout the surrounding cities. The word God gave me to share was about fear. Long story short, it was about how Christ’s love should cast out all of our fears (1 John 4:18). Here’s the skinny…when you are sharing on the radio, you never know who could be listening. Which is amazing because the span of ground to scatter seed becomes much larger than the ground you can plant just in person. However, it can be discouraging because you can rarely see the fruit of your labor when it’s something so vast. BUT GOD. He’s so amazing and He wants me to “get it” so He let put on His glasses so to speak and see things from HIS point of view. Literally, about 5 minutes after I finished sharing on the radio, a lady called our contact and wanted to let me know she was listening and my message really blessed her! Now, we both know that that was totally God and not me. Only the Holy Spirit could be that incredible to lay a word on my heart that was exactly what someone else needed to hear. I am not that awesome. J She asked if we could come visit her later that day! WOW. Talk about instant fruit. That rarely happens, but it did THIS day. After the program was over we got to go to her house, pray over her and her family, share more of the gospel with her and God’s plan for her to not live in fear but to be FREE in His love. It was a wonderful time and I am so thankful God opened my eyes to SEE in that moment.
Another story from this weekend is about a man named Lucio. I had to planned to get together with a couple girls from our ministry and build some relationships with them outside of ministry times. So I went to meet them in this place called Sapi Sapi. It’s a pond with a gazebo and the water is filled with alligators, Paiche (the world’s largest fresh water fish) and tons of turtles. It’s a pretty peaceful place. There are lots of people there selling a large variety of different souvenirs. Welp, here’s the deal – both the girls stood me up. Yep, they were no-shows. WHAT a disappointment. Such is life and such is the culture here. It’s common to say you’ll do something and then not do it. But that’s not the point of this story. As I sat there waiting, I saw this older man staring at us “gringas”. This is not uncommon. EVERY single day, every single place, people stare. I have finally started to just accept it. But there was something different about this guy. He was super smiley and I waved and said hello to him. He then came over and sat next to me. For the next 45 minutes we just chatted about life. Of course, let’s be honest, who knows how much he really understood because my Spanish could use some serious work. BUT GOD. I gave it my best shot and that’s really all God asks us to give – our all. It was Sunday, so I asked him if he went to church. I think he said yes. HA. Help me Lord with this language barrier – #whitepeopleprobs. Through my broken Spanish, I invited him to join us at church that night. I gave him the address and told him I would love to have him come. Honestly, I didn’t think he would actually come. Often times on the field, you feel like you’re just throwing seeds all over the place and you rarely get to see them take root – especially on short term trips. And I know that God is the One who brings the harvest. But every now and then, it’s encouraging to see a little instant fruit to give you a boost. So I left and went to church. To my surprise, guess who shows up!? LUCIO! He comes with his Bible and sits down. He had the largest grin on his face and is the most adorable little old man. That night at church we talked about the cross and even got to share in communion together – which in itself was a special experience to share in the work that Christ did for the WHOLE world with our Spanish brothers and sisters. He loved it and said that he’s going to come back to church! How incredible! Although my original plans fell through, God had another plan. (That could be another blog right there, but not today).
So I encourage you. Take chances. Step out of your box and reach out. Maybe you won’t see instant fruit, but maybe you will. Ask God to open your eyes to see more clearly through His glasses. Just because you aren’t in another country, doesn’t mean you can’t make a LIFE-CHANGING impact on someone’s life. Most of you have made that impact on my life. I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am without the MANY people who pray for me, support me, encourage me and believe in me. Don’t let the enemy hold you back. Be bold. Be brave and see what God wants to do. He wants YOU to see. I believe that if you take the leap, you will.
