Have you ever asked God to ‘show up’ in your life? Or felt as if He wasn’t present and you wondered in what ways He was working in the lives of others around you when you yourself could see no fruit of His works?
I am guilty of tunnel vision. Sometimes I become so blinded by what’s in front of me that I can’t even see the ways in which God is working and moving in my own life and others’ lives all around me. My limited mind defaults to focusing only on what I can see before me and not the grander picture, the way God sees things.
Last month while we were in Chile, I spent a lot of time waiting for big things to occur: for the Lord to ‘show up’ in wondrous ways by making miracles happen and when they didn’t happen, I was disappointed and found myself asking God where He was and why He wasn’t working and moving like I expected.
Most of our month consisted of going door to door praying for the people of Tocopilla. Some days we painted. Some days we discipled inner city kids. We practiced and performed a Spanish worship song, we marched in a parade for Jesus, we sat and ate bread with beautiful people who lacked companionship, and we set up a wedding for a couple in the church. Nothing miraculous, nothing fancy, and nothing I couldn’t have done back in the United States.
So why am I here? What is the purpose of me doing all of these menial things if I’m not seeing any impact through these acts? I desired so badly to serve as Christ serves and to love these people and see them through the eyes of Jesus and in my mind that meant doing the “big” things like seeing someone come to Christ through sharing the Gospel with them, or praying for the sick and seeing them healed, or casting out demons.
I was seeing things through my tunnel vision and was foolishly asking God the ‘why’? And He responded with the ‘what’.
It wasn’t until our very last night in Chile while eating a small dinner at the home of a loving woman we had met the week before. Her name is Veronica and she lives with her husband, daughter, and grandson in a very tiny house but that didn’t stop them from serving us their absolute best and showing us so much love and hospitality.
They were so grateful for us and the work God was doing through us that when it came time to leave, her daughter gave all 4 of us girls a pair of her own personal earrings to keep. She did this out of pure joy and happiness and didn’t hesitate in her giving even though she had so little in life.
That was when I realized the ‘what’ that the Lord was trying to show me. ‘What’ we were doing that past month was impacting lives even if we didn’t see it or realize it. ‘What’ He was doing was working through us, taking our willingness to serve in any way, shape, or form and turning small things into big blessings for others.
That night at Veronica’s home the Lord asked me something. He said, “Will you show me that I can trust you with the ‘small things’ so that I can allow you more responsibility with the ‘big things’?”
I always have faith that God can and will heal the sick, He will bring the souls of His loved ones to Him, and He will use us to cast out demons in His name. But what I was lacking last month was a wide-open vision to look at the bigger picture and to see things through God’s eyes by surrendering myself into trusting Him as He leads me through things that may seem small, but are actually making a bigger impact than what I can see.
-Kels
*We are still in the process of raising funds to keep us out on the mission field! We need to reach a goal of $26,000 by November 30, 2017. We need to be FULLY FUNDED by January 30, 2018. Please consider partnering with us on this journey by pressing the ‘Donate’ button at the top of this page! Blessings!
