Jesus Spoke to Me In an Australian Accent Last Night.
This is true. Let me tell you about it.
This month has been a tough one. We’re working in a small village in Phuket, Thailand with two missionaries that have been here for about 4 years. Their names are Dana and Cindy .
Dana is the pastor of a small church that he and his wife have been laboring in relentlessly. To form relationships in the neighborhood he spends his mornings cleaning the streets of the village. He’s humble in a way that makes you stop and reassess what humility looks like. Cindy teaches English at couple of different schools on the island, and then does everything else that comes along with being a pastors wife. Please pray for them. Our ministry this month has been helping Dana with the streets, helping Cindy at school, and giving our testimonies on the radio and in church. Well, that’s what we’ve been doing. I feel like my purpose here has been prayer, and everything else was secondary.
Pretty much upon arrival here the spiritual warfare hit in a way that I haven’t experienced since India. We heard that the warfare was heavy from Dana and Cindy, but I didn’t expect it to look like it has. I guess I can only describe how it looked to me. To me it played out in exhaustion, apathy, and feelings hopelessness. Thailand is largely Buddhist. In the village here in front of the houses are “spirit houses.” They look like little doll mansions. I don’t know much about them other than what’s kind of self explanatory, they are houses for the spirits that protect the family. So, I came into this month feeling like I was already battling a few disappointments; we’d switched teams and changed from our dream ministry location at the last minute. Each day felt like a battle just to get through it. I literally had to have my mind set of Jesus at all times. I’m grateful that He showed me that praise and Thanksgiving are weapons, I needed to know that coming into this month! As the days went on Jesus was so good to give me perspective, to show me that I was in a battle, to give me the energy and passion to be joining Him in intercession. He reminded me that challenge was about intimacy. Every day felt a little harder, but Jesus showed Himself to be so faithful.
Through all of this He brought me to the exact place that I asked to be. Dependent. Leaning on Him. He revealed to me in a new way how much I need Him. I realized all over again how His presence is better than life itself, better than any other fellowship. His word is literally food for my soul, necessary and sustaining. He revealed a lot that is in my heart, poured His grace over what He revealed, and released me from performing for Him. I feel like a child all over again, re-learning how to relate to my Abba.
So a couple of days ago I realized I’d hit a wall. I was completely drained in every way. It was hard to interact with people, I felt like I couldn’t pray, couldn’t engage in what was going on around me. So I go through the day asking the Lord what is going on with me. He told me I needed to rest, that I do that same thing in the spiritual as I do in the natural: take on too much with the perspective that if I don’t do it won’t get done. False right! I’d worn my self out feeling like I needed to go,go,go to be pleasing to the Lord. We get to participate in what He’s doing, it’s not an obligation, but an adventure to join in on. So I told the Lord that I knew He sustained the weary and I was going to wait to see Him sustain me. Had this verse on my heart:
Psalm 18:30 As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the Lord is tried: He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
SO that very day these two girls from Australia showed up in our lives. They are on holiday and are going around cheering on and encouraging different ministries along the way. They’d come to stay with Dana and Cindy, and wound up being an answer to prayer. They showed up early in the morning bright and cheery. I asked the Lord who these girls were, and He said this “the Kings daughters have come.” I didn’t think much of it. On the way home from church that night we started telling them about our month, how we were feeling weary and discouraged. That was it, they kicked into gear. We all gathered in the front room and they showered us with love and encouragement. I’ve never seen such a clear picture of what it looks like for the Holy Spirit to lavish His love on His people. They pulled each of us into their arms and prayed over us, gave us words from the Lord, words of encouragement, and lots of hugs! I realized even more how good the Lord is, to send them here to encourage us, to speak into our struggles, to remind us of His presence and activity in our circumstances.
