This may sound really big and complicated but I promise it’s not.
The Lord has actually been teaching me about how simple it really is. Last time our squad mentor and her husband were on the field with us I asked each of them for one piece of advice about returning home. And from that conversation the one thing that stuck with me was choosing to have a spirit of interruptibility. For me that looks like slowing down, genuinely caring for people and choosing to give the Lord an opportunity to speak through me in my typical day to day. Even though this was advice for going home the Lord began teaching me about it while in Nicaragua.
Our first day out in Nicaragua I met a man named David. As we walked through downtown David was sitting on the steps to an abandoned building. As I passed by I shot a quick “hello, how are you” in spanish and expected a short response. However, the reply came in nearly perfect English. It caught my attention and caused me to really slow down. The Lord was placing an opportunity in front of us to be with David, and to talk to someone who could fully understand us. However, as I began praying and asking the Lord where this conversation would go, the Lord told me to simply listen. I wanted to know where he was from and why he was there and if he had any kids… loads of questions began flooding my mind, as David proceeded to talk to us about a wrestler from Alabama and all the facts behind his wrestling career. Our conversation lasted for about 10 minutes and then came to a close. We didn’t pray for David and we didn’t need to give him anything. The Lord told me that David just needed someone to listen. To be acknowledged and to be heard. All it took was a few minutes of my time. I didn’t have to say any fancy words or do anything but just be a listening ear.
And most of the time its just that simple. Following the Lord and having the willingness to slow down isn’t complicated. The Lord is actually working it all together and we have an amazing opportunity to be used, if we’ll let Him.
A few weeks following, we spent our morning prayer walking in downtown Granada, Central Park. While praying for two men, there was a woman who walked pretty close, stood there curious for a few moments, but then walked away. As she lingered behind us I had this deep desire to pray with her, however, our translator was praying with these other men. And when we finished praying for the two men, she was gone. I had no idea where she went but I told my teammate Victoria that if we saw the lady waking with a cane and her hand bandaged I really wanted to try and pray with her. After ministry finished and our translator left, Victoria and I went to the bank and then the market to get mangos and plantain chips. Struggling to find mangos there was a man who led us through the interworks of the market to a cute old woman who had 2 mangos left. And as a thank you for helping us find the mangos I decided to buy an avocado from him. However, you couldn’t buy just one you had to buy four. So now I had a mango, a bag of chips and 4 avocados. What in the world am I going to do with all of these! They’re gonna go bad before I have time to eat them and we have lunch waiting for us at home. As we made our way back to the meeting spot where the rest of the group was, Victoria and I sat down on some steps to finish our mango. Just then, the woman walked passed us and at the same exact time one of our translators walked up! The Lord had brought her to us, but He also brought us a way of communication!!! The woman explained that she had fallen and injured her hand, wrist and ankle. And she was out in central park with a sign asking for food. We got to pray with her and for some reason (that reason being the Lord!!) I had bought a ton of extra avocados about 10 minutes prior. The Lord worked it all together in His timing and had such a plan for us that morning. We just had to be willing to take the time. He had already orchestrated everything together.
HE, the LORD, has got it. It’s not complicated. Its actually so simple. We just have to be willing to give Him the time and space to work. – Cara
– Cara
