It always amazes me how God can take undesirable situations and turn them into good. That happened to me this month in Honduras.
I like to post goofy stories because they’re fun (and don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about the Mr. Shaggy sequel), but to be completely honest, this month was very difficult for awhile.
The trip to Honduras was long and hard. Days of ministry at school were long and hard. Waking up early every morning was hard. Not long after our arrival, I found out my grandma was in the hospital, and very possibly wouldn’t recover. (She is recovering pretty well now, but prayers are still appreciated). I wasn’t sleeping well, and I was living in a state of perpetual exhaustion. I sometimes looked at what I was doing at the school where we ministered and wondered what good I was doing. I didn’t see much opportunity for me. I didn’t feel like I was doing anything productive.
Then I got sick.
Sounds like a great way to top all of that off, doesn’t it? Like the icing on a less than desirable cake. But getting sick was the best thing that could have happened to me.
When my alarm woke me up that morning, I noticed that my stomach did not feel well at all. So I told my team that I was staying home.
It was an interesting experience being sick here. There was no TV or Xbox to take my mind off my sickness. And while I did have Wi-Fi access, I decided to put my phone aside and do something I hadn’t done in awhile, and just spend some time with God.
After some time spent reading my Bible and praying, I did decide to use the Wi-Fi to watch a sermon from back home. And then I went back to the Word and back to prayer. Nothing odd about it, except that I hadn’t done this in some time.
By the time I finished, I felt like a different person. I finished that time feeling refreshed and renewed by the Holy Spirit.
The next day I woke up (feeling much better!) at 5am again. I went to the same school again. I saw the same kids again and did the same things again. Literally nothing had changed. Except my perspective and my attitude.
I found I loved working with these kids, and God showed me how much He loves them. I saw God’s movement, and I saw value in the work I was doing. I was investing into Honduras’ next generation. God was using me to share a piece of Himself with the students (and hopefully teachers and staff too. Shoutout to all of them, they’re awesome).
So much of my struggle early in the month had been self-inflicted. There was no deficiency in the ministry opportunity. What was lacking was my investment in my relationship with God. Once I got that straight, everything was so much better.
What a difference a day made!
So the moral of the story is, missionaries don’t get a free pass in their spiritual life. Being in the mission field doesn’t make you spiritually healthy by default. Disciplines like prayer and Bible reading are still as vital here as back home. It’s not possible for me to care for other souls if I’m too busy to care for my own.
So yes, God can use upset stomachs. This one changed the course of my entire month for the better. Still, next time I hope He will catch my attention by a more pleasant means. I promise I’m paying attention this time.
