God is teaching me so much about obedience. I like to think I’m obedient most of the time, but I’ve grown more aware of my hesitancy to that obedience when it requires boldness. I’ve been wanting to write this blog for a while, and feel Holy Spirit asking me to write it in this very moment. Let me tell you why.
My squad and I are currently on our 53 hour journey to Africa. We are on our last of 3 long flights to Malawi and we’re all exhausted. Thankfully I was able to sleep 11 hours on our last flight (narcolepsy sometimes comes as a strength). But my teammate, Hannah, hasn’t slept in over 48 hours. We’ve been cracking up at how delirious we are and I encouraged her to try and nap on this flight! Our airline has assigned seats and Hannah’s seat is supposed to be directly behind mine. When we got to our spots, there was a man in her seat. The flight attendant told him he was in the wrong spot, but Hannah assured him she didn’t mind and took the aisle seat. This started a friendly conversation between the two of them. As the plane filled up, the seat between them remained empty. They kept chatting. And now I sit here listening to the two of them exchange stories about the way they’ve seen God work in their lives. I heard the man say he’s been baptized and used to go to church all the time and share powerful testimonies. He told Hannah several instances of witnessing God’s power in his life, but feels far from him now. He’s the owner of several strip clubs and spends a lot of time traveling. He likes the life he lives, but feels very lonely. As Hannah began to share the story of the prodigal son with him, I felt God prompt me to take out my phone and write. I’m not going to delay in this prompting on my heart because God has shown me the fruit that comes from the nudges the spirit gives us to be bold in sharing his love. That’s what Hannah’s doing now. I know she’s exhausted, but she’s not letting that temporary obstacle stand in the way of eternal impact. She’s being bold for the kingdom. I just heard the man tell Hannah she’s an angel sent to him by God. I believe that too.
I’m learning a lot about listening to the whispers God puts on our hearts to share his love. Sometimes it’s awkward. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like the time or place. But we have to do it! We have to trust that when Holy Spirit asks us to do something, it’ll have a purpose.
When we were checking into our flight in Toronto we were all going on 24 hours without sleep. It was 5:30 in the morning and the airline had a ton of people to check in. We were reminded to move as efficiently as possible, having our passports ready when we got to the counter to check our bag. I was waiting for Hannah and was focusing so hard on not falling asleep standing up. Of all times this is when I hear the spirit say “tell him that I love him. He doesn’t hear it enough.” He being the man checking us in. He being the man that is in a rush trying to check people into their flight. I hesitated. Hannah turned around ready to go and I said “I’m supposed to tell him God loves him.” Hannah looks at me sensing my apprehension and says “you gotta do it!” I knew she was right. I went up to the counter, put my hand down and told him “God wants me to tell you he loves you so much.” The man put his hand to his heart and said “thank you so much.” We walked away. Maybe it was awkward. Maybe it didn’t mean anything to him. Maybe it meant everything to him. It’s not my job to know, only to obey!
We have to first turn off the noise and distractions of the world and invite the Spirit to speak above everything else. We can hear better when we see better. Seeing our daily tasks as second place to building kingdom helps tune our hearts to God and our ears to listening. This is an ongoing learning process for me.
I set a goal going into Honduras that I wanted to grow in intimacy with the Lord over the course of the month. I wanted to tune my ears to hear him and tune my heart to be more in step with the spirit. I’m listening, Ruach Hakodesh.
One evening in Honduras, my teammates and I piled into a taxi and made our way home. Our driver’s spanish was difficult to understand, but we did our best to make casual conversation. As we rounded the corner almost to our house, I heard the Spirit whisper, “ask him if he knows me.”
This guy’s spanish is so hard to understand and we are about to pull up to the house, I don’t think there’s time…
God reminded me in an instant that he doesn’t work by our time clock.
“Conoces Dios?” I asked. I explained that we’re missionaries traveling the world to share the love of Christ. We pulled up to the house, ‘A’ turned the car off, and shared his story with us. He gave his life to Jesus when he was 17, but has drifted away from him since, making a lot of bad choices. He explained why he felt so distant from him, and was worried what God thought of him now. We shared the story of the prodigal son with him, explaining that no matter how much we mess up, no matter how unworthy we think we are, or how far we’ve run, God is longing for us to return to him, waiting with open arms. ‘A’ had tears in his eyes and asked if we would pray with him to rededicate his life to Christ.
There was a big lesson that night for me. Even when I think my heart is open and willing to listen, I almost brushed away Holy Spirit’s whisper because of trivial obstacles. Is God not bigger than a language barrier? Is He not bigger than our concept of time? ‘A’ could have shut down the conversation instead of turning off the car. It could have had an entirely different outcome. But regardless of outcome, our trust should be the same. If He asks you to do something, it’s for a purpose. We’re just sprinkling seeds and He was kind enough to let us watch one sprout that night.
My prayer is that we grow in boldness for Christ and to tune our hearts to hear the voice of the Spirit above the noise of the world. I challenge you to pray for an opportunity to speak encouragement into a stranger’s life this week. God might just surprise you!
