“God’s whisper ‘yes’ is louder than 7 billion people’s screams ‘no’” ~Percy (A young Ghanaian wiser than he knows)
He told me he thought our voices were louder. He told me he felt that he could not change his own culture. He poured out his weary soul and said to me, “I’m tired. Ghanaians don’t know how to love like you Americans do.” As he told me more, I asked him if he remembered how to love and then I asked him if the other members of the church still had the ability to love. He answered, “yes.” And I said, “So, there is still hope, right? Because you are faithful to love like Jesus did and to spread his love all over your country.” He agreed reluctantly but still insisted that we were better than him and I told him to listen in closely because I had a funny story to tell.
“My voice is not loud,” I whispered, “I have to think a lot before I speak.”
“That is good.”
“Exactly! But I, like you, have always believed that it was a bad thing. I thought that no one would ever hear my quiet voice but I’m here to tell you that someone did. It’s the same someone who hears you. Jesus hears you because He is the one who gives the words to you in the first place and when you’re quiet that means you’re listening to His voice. My words are important and my friends’ words are important and we have the same God so that means your words are important too. We are here to provide encouragement for a short time but you are here to speak to your own people for a lifetime and you understand them much better than we do.”
He thought for a minute and nodded. “That’s why I make my raps even though people tell me rap music is not from Jesus. I know it is because people have been touched by it and God’s whisper ‘yes’ is louder than 7 billion people’s screams ‘no.’”
I was blown away by that statement and I told him that I would surely be quoting him in my writing. He smiled and thanked me before we parted ways. He made sure to repeat himself too so that I would get it right when I wrote it down. In that moment I told God that if that was the only reason he sent me to Ghana, it was worth it because I know what it’s like to feel like there is no hope. I know what it’s like to feel like you have no voice. It makes my heart feel so full to tell someone that their words are powerful because I know that, when God speaks words of encouragement through me, the ears that hear and remember that may one day transform the lives of millions. I desire nothing more than to be a part of spurring on someone else’s mission.
Tell your story. Assure people of the truths you have found in Jesus. Let it fill your heart. Expect your words to come alive and grow like a vine inside of them until it reaches out to touch others. Your words are alive, speak them out like seeds. Let people take them and plant them. Watch them grow into something more than beautiful.
