Discipleship.
Coming alongside other believers to encourage, speak truth, walk into freedom – all done through relationship.
That’s what I’m good at.
That’s where I thrive.
That’s what I feel called to.
Lately, I’ve been hearing stories of my friends seeing a lot of healings and miracles, impacting strangers they come in contact with in a radical way.
It’s made me stop and question, “Should I be doing that?”, “Do I need to be more intentional with the strangers I see on the street?”, “Am I missing what I’m actually supposed to be doing?”
It’s really easy to let comparison – the thief of joy – sneak in.
I kept thinking, “My ministry doesn’t look like theirs. Is that ok?”
Last week I was able to travel to Kyrgyzstan to see another squad I’ve had the privilege of leading. While there, we did a listening prayer/prophecy exercise.
Each person received a paper with a name on it. We didn’t know whose name we had and were to ask the Lord what He wanted to say to that person, – whoever it may be – write it down and give it to them.
The paper I received said this:
“Be a lighthouse.
You have the ability to guide people through the storm. You’re a place of safety.
Your foundation is solid. Walk in your gifts with confidence, but don’t forget the people who haven’t made it to shore yet. Look for them. Let them see you. Let them see what God can do.
You have to be willing to shine. It’s not your job to sail. It’s your job to guide.”
How fitting for the next season of life, but also for these questions and comparison that had been nagging at me!?
What a personal God we have that He would share those words with someone else just for me!
Two days later I left Kyrgyzstan to fly back to India. My flight was late and resulted in me missing my connecting flight.
I had an extra two hours in the airport, which was actually a blessing to have some down time.
As I was waiting for my gate to open, my thoughts kept going back to those words,
“It’s not your job to sail. It’s your job to guide.”
What does that mean, practically? A lighthouse doesn’t go anywhere. It’s stationary, but reflects the light it has. It doesn’t seek things/boats/people out. It’s stays in one spot and draws people in to the truth of where the light stands.
As I was standing there, singing to myself – cause that’s what I do – and trying to sort out what that means for me and how to live it out, I made eye contact with this girl who was standing nearby. She looked at me and said, “Are you busy? Would you like to talk?”
Of course I said “Yes”!
I got to know her a little bit and then came the inevitable questions about what I do and why I’m here.
She was Hindu, but didn’t seem too invested as she told me, “It’s India. We are mostly all Hindu.”
I got to share what my faith is in, how important it is to me and how necessary it is to search out what you believe rather than just living on the faith of your family like I did for so long.
I think that’s what it means for me to be a lighthouse.
I’m not saying I never need to be intentional or initiate conversations with strangers, but I don’t believe that’s how God created me to naturally operate.
But I can be available. I can be ready. I can be His mouthpiece whenever I see an opportunity.
I looked up the definition of ‘miracle’ and found:
“miracle: and extraordinary and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore attributed to a divine agency.”
I love that my friends are getting to see and perform miracles through healing.
I also love my miracles. They just look a little different.
