Everyone, meet Lila!
She’s one of my teammates.
She’s from California.
She’s funny and encouraging.
She’s the other Spanish translator for our team.
Basically, she’s great.
And, we both had a cool God moment this past weekend.
*Disclaimer – This picture is not related to the story I’m about to share. It’s just us hanging around La Cuidad Antigua in Cartagena on our free day. 🙂
Okay, back to the story…
On Friday night, Lila and I were walking back to the Lighthouse (the house we’ve been staying at this month) from the YWAM base. It’s about six blocks away. I usually head back every night when the first people head out. However, this particular night I stayed a bit longer at the base with Lila to work on some stuff.
Lila had mentioned how earlier that day she met a security guard named Javier on her walk to the base. She had a good conversation with him and learned that he was a Christian. So, she wanted to see if he was working since we would pass him on our walk back.
Now, before you wonder how safe it is to be walking home at night… Rest assured that I’ve felt safe walking the streets of Cartagena and everyone here is very friendly. You’ll usually hear someone greet you with a “buenas” or “buenos días/buenas tarde/buenas noche” (good morning/afternoon/night) whenever you pass them. It’s quite pleasant, actually. That’s not to say you shouldn’t be aware and alert, but it is a safe area.
So, as we walked back, we reached the block where Javier works, and Lila saw him at the gate. We exchanged hellos as we passed by and we noticed he had his Bible opened. Then, he proceeded to stop us in our tracks because he had a word for us.
Well, okay… I guess we have a few minutes to spare. Let’s see what this guy is all about…
I can’t lie, a bit of skepticism creeped in. But, I would soon realize that God had set this all up. With his Bible in hand, Javier instructed Lila to look up Genesis 28:15 and then told me to look up Numbers 23:19.
Genesis 28:15 – “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Numbers 23:19 – “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”
OKAY. HOLD UP. I wasn’t even ready for this. Lila and I were just causally walking home, not even expecting God to show up like He did.
I snapped a quick picture to remember this moment. Tried to be casual about it, but that was a fail. This was right before Javier dropped some truth bombs our way.
After we read those verses, Javier encouraged us to take a hold of these truths and God’s promises as we travel through South America this year and reminded us that God has chosen us for this mission.
In those few moments we shared, I felt the Holy Spirit in such a sweet way.
We could’ve kept walking.
We could’ve told Javier we didn’t have time and needed to head home.
But, we decided to be interruptible.
These are the small moments I’ll remember the most when I look back on this year. God will use just about anyone to grab our attention sometimes. Ever since our conversation with Javier, I’ve been thinking about God’s promises for my life.
I think I’ve reached a point where I’ve focused too much on staying present that I’ve lost sight of God’s promises for me that are still to come.
I want to encourage you to ask God what His promises are for your life incase you’ve also lost sight of them. Maybe you have never asked God what His promises are for you. Or, maybe He has promised you things that you feel are too good to be true. Whatever the case may be, believe Him when He says that He will not leave you. Whatever promise He has will be fulfilled in your life. Trust Him with your heart. He will not disappoint you because it is not in His character to leave you dissatisfied and abandoned.
Ah. The story gets even better because… guess what. Last night, I saw Javier again. I was tempted to walk past him because I didn’t want to engage in conversation (being brutally honest), but I saw him and I talked with him for a few minutes. He even remembered my name. He was reading in 1 John 3 and shared another encouraging word. I’m glad I got stopped again by Javier.
As you walk into this new week, remember that God’s promises for your life will come to pass because He is not a man that should lie. And hey, sometimes God will remind you in the most unconventional ways.
Maybe you’ll meet a Javier this week. Or maybe, you can be a Javier for someone else. Whatever it is, be encouraged.
He is faithful.
Xo
