Oh, boy do I love surprises! Whether it being a birthday one or a random event in an ordinary day. Since my departure from Canada and partaking on the Race, I have been surprised time and time again! But why? I came into the program with a specific expectation to be shown extraordinary things, witness unbelievable miracles, and feel things in my soul that I haven’t before! So with an expectation to see things not from my ordinary life I was living back home I shouldn’t be surprised by everyday events. But I am! The Lord has brought alot of things to my attention in the most random of times!
The latest story comes a few days ago when I had joined a group that was ministering in a different site than my teams’. I decided to go more for something to do on a Sunday afternoon to keep busy. It was a whim, an impulsive “I’ll go with you if you need some help!” And so I was off! I have a little spanish in me and I’ve been working with our translators to teach me more. So I soon found myself talking to parents and inviting kids to a VBS program that this team was going to have the next day! I didn’t really care about how it sounded, as long as the message got across! It was neat, and people seemed responsive. I know it all worked out, because the next day around 75 kids showed up!
So as I was going around house to house spreading the word, a man came running down the street yelling something in spanish at me! He was weaping, scared, and angry! As this commotion was going on the pastor of the neighborhood came over and confronted the man. The 2 of them left into a nearby alley and after about 10 minutes the pastor came back. He said that we needed to pray right now and then proceeded to pray in spanish. When he finished he took myself and 2 others into a small house and showed us this man’s brother who was dying of AIDS. Now I have done projects on AIDS, had the AIDS awareness training, and seen many documentaries on AIDS. So I knew what it was all about! Or did I?
You see, this was the first time I had ever seen a person who actually had AIDS before. It was very daunting for me. The man looked so weak, so sick, so lifeless! He shared about his headache and his loss of appetite. This man was the most fragile looking person I had ever seen before. Pastor Nestor prayed for the man for his appetite, his headache, and his heart. The man wanted to know more about Jesus! I found myself praying for this man for reasons I didn’t know.
I found myself questioning God’s motives here. Do I pray for his health? Is he going to die in a week’s time? Should I pray for salvation? Should I pray for his family? Should I pray for this man to be fully healed? Do I actually believe he could be healed in that exact moment? Should I pray for a painless end to this man’s life? What do I need to pray for God?
These are only the surface of questions I was asking God. Well, nothing much else happened besides our prayers at his bedside. But the Lord spoke deep into my soul that evening as I reflected on what I had just seen. All I heard was a voice saying, “Matt, know that I am God and all things happen in my time, my purpose, and for reasons you’ll never comprehend. Pray Matt, pray in everything. for I have it all worked out!” So with that I have been shown that sometimes I just need to pray. Pray ferverently not for things I understand nor things I want or feel is right. God was showing me to just pray. I enjoy prayer, but I enjoy direction and I enjoy a purpose. Well today those ideas were not what made the perfect prayer. God wanted me to faithfully trust Him for what he has planned for this man. He wanted me to trust Him in what he was going to do in this man’s heart. He wanted me to lay down my selfish prayers and pray for another person for things I had no understanding or control over!
Surprise, surprise………..Matt get’s another wake-up call! Praise the Lord!!
