Today was a reminder that the Father works in mysterious and wonderful ways. It was a reminder that Jesus is always working things out for our good, he’s always thinking about us, always shaping us and always working behind the scenes.
In the middle of the night last night I woke up abruptly in a jolt. My body leaned all the way forward, my chest was facing the wall across from me and I gasped for breath. I did not remember my dream however I did remember a face. I remember seeing a clear image of a darker skin toned woman, she had eyes that were closed half way (maybe she was blind) and she was looking up to me. I was pretty startled, what was this woman doing in my dream? Uneasy, I went back to bed and forgot about it in the morning.
Later on in the day my team and I were walking toward our bus stop and I decide not to plug in and listen to music, subconsciously I decided to just listen and clue in to my surroundings. The bus comes along and my team and I start to get on the bus. I walk up the stairs and look up to scan where I would sit. I look to my right and then to my left.
Her face. THE face. THE eyes. What?
I remembered my dream from last night. I was startled in the same way, it was almost like dayjavoo. My heart skipped a beat as I stop in my tracks. I stare at this woman. She was sitting in the first row, she was right beside me. I smile in amazement, in shock. I see the same eyes I saw last night. Wrinkles embody her face, her eyes were worn, they were half open. She responded back to my smile with an even exchange, her face was enlightened by my being. SO COOL, GOD IS SO COOL.
My thoughts are disrupted as my body jolts back as the bus starts to move. I keep walking, astonished. I couldn’t believe it, I started to doubt myself. I mean come on, that’s ridiculous, that’s like impossible. But then it was SO realistic, so accurate.
I start to walk down the aisle and scan again for a seat to sit in. My teammate Kate and Bekah walk before me. A woman sitting alone on my left shakes her head at Bekah as she attempts to squeeze next to her. Kate follows her action but the woman shook her head as well. I keep walking and look at the woman, my turn to get the rejection. Though I was surprised when she scooted over and tapped the space next to her, cueing me to come sit next to her (well thats the first!). I sat down and smiled at her and said thank you, she smiled back and nodded her head. She then started pointing up, she clasped her hands together and pointed up again. I believe she said the word God in Spanish (Dios) and then pointed to my cross necklace. She started saying other things in Spanish. To my dismay I knew nothing, though this woman spoke with authority. I mean she was passionate. I smile and nod my head saying amen to the things she was telling me. I just knew in my spirit whatever she was saying was truth and light. After she finished, she smiles and pats my leg.
I look forward and start to think about the woman sitting four rows ahead of me. I was asking so many questions to God, I try and analyze what just happened and what needs to happen with this woman, “Okay father, obviously you have gotten my full attention. What is it, what do you want me to do? Is she going to get off at the same stop as me? Do I go pray for her?” I then realize that my mind is lost in the questions not in his repine and still my mind, He was leading me to pray for the woman next to me. I was a little taken back, I mean she wasn’t in my dream, she is just a woman who wanted me to sit next to her. But I followed the bosses orders. Haha, I tried my best to ask her if I could pray for her in Spanish (aka I used a lot of hand motions ;). She was thrilled and nodded her head, like she was waiting for me to ask.
She reached out her hand, I reached out mine and our hands clasped together. Her hand was very shaky, she may have had some sort of illness. I started to pray and she started to pray as well. God was on the move. I was literally taken back yet again at the power, authority and passion she spoke with. Her other hand was then placed on my head. My hair was moving every which way because her of her shake, bless her soul. I continued to pray for her as she continued to pray for me, I prayed healing and renewing over her.
I don’t know what this woman was praying over me or declaring over me I just know it was intense and SO COOL! I mean when do you see a white American sitting next to a Guatemalan woman praying for each other on a bus? When I got off the bus, I looked back and saw her smiling in the window, I waved at the woman and she waved back.
Whew, what a morning am I right? Amazing. But what about the woman I saw on the bus that was in my dream? Did I get it all wrong? Am I reading into it incorrectly?
Being the person that I am, I sometimes want to figure everything out and have a reason and answer for everything. I mean I believe that theres always a reason for something but usually it’s not what we think. There is no limit, no box, no wall, no measuring tape that I could ever possibly put on God. This woman in my dream led me to this other woman on the bus, this woman made me curious which led me to seek the Lord. I get so caught up in the Lord’s dimensions that I forget that God is so far beyond science, beyond the human brain, beyond the five senses, and beyond the ways of humanity. I know that what happened today was from God, it was so divine, I could feel it in my spirit. I didn’t necessarily need to know the words speaking over me, Jesus worked through the words of the woman and touched my heart, that barrier was broken.
This morning reminded me of the story in Acts 3 when the lame beggar at the temple gate of Beautiful was asking John and Peter for silver and gold. He was carried there day after day, asking for the same thing over and over again. Though, God had better plans for him, he ended up getting healed by Peter! I believe that in our day to day lives, in our day to day routines, God is always on the back burner, brewing, steaming and sizzling things up, He is there. He is working in ways much higher than mine, setting my paths straight. He is leading me and calling me to things greater than I can even ask for.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” Ephesians 3:20
