Guys…I’ve got to tell you something that I found out last month.
I’m expecting!
NO. I’m not pregnant. I mean, you’ve got to be married & stuff & I’m definitely not. But that’s beside the point.
No, I’ve come to realize that I’m expecting….God to show up. Mozambique was so many things that are almost impossible to put into words, but the best way to describe it is: challenging.
It was challenging getting into Mozi. It was almost more challenging to get OUT of Mozi. And everything in between was challenging. We saw many people that were enslaved to sin. We saw so many people that were oppressed and caught in the darkness of witch doctors & the “healing” they had from them. We saw kids that fought over moldy bread that we’d thrown in the trash. It was all very heartbreaking. It tore us apart inside.
I could tell you story after story about physical healing we saw. And I will. Over coffee. At home. Because it’s so hard to put to paper. But some of the coolest things I saw are things I can’t ever explain in a way that does it justice. Some of the coolest things I saw were emotional or internal healing. There were so many times that we were asked to come up & pray for people (after EVERY service). There weren’t enough interpreters, so I could usually only find out a name. But as I was praying, I could tell that God was moving. I can’t explain the emotions or the atmosphere, but I can tell you that I know in my spirit that there was emotionally healing. There was freedom from shame. Chains to sin were broken. It was so beautiful.
There was this woman I was praying for. She was the first to come to me after the service about carrying shame. I asked what her name was & what I could pray for her about. I couldn’t pronounce her name & she continued to speak in Portuguese. I didn’t understand, so I just started praying. After a minute, she began trembling, then crying softly. This turned into body shaking sobbing. I could tell she’d been carrying a burden for a long time. I have no idea what it was, but I kept praying. I prayed for freedom for her. I prayed for internal healing. I prayed for her to know, to truly know, the Father’s love. She continued crying, but a peace fell over her. Guys, I wish you could’ve been there because there’s no way I can describe what happened well enough. But when I finished praying, I just held her. And there was peace. I. LOVE. THAT.
Physical healing is cool and exciting and undeniable. But my favorite thing is to see someone freed of shame or sin that they’ve been carrying around or living in for a long time. That relief. That peace. You can see it. It’s like they can breathe again. And only Jesus can do that. Only Jesus can help people let go of those burdens, that shame, that anger, that sin that they thought they would have to carry for life.
So this past month, I didn’t know what to expect. We started by praying for physical healing for our host (I’ll have to tell you that story at our coffee date) and then all Heaven broke loose. We became bold in our prayers for each other that night. We began to EXPECT God to show up in ways we hadn’t expected before. Or maybe just ways that I hadn’t expected before. And guess what? He did show up. That night taught me to expect Him to come and to do great things. And yes, sometimes it’s hard. I start to wonder, “Yes, but is it His will to heal THIS person RIGHT NOW?” Or “Well, what do we do if He chooses not to heal this person RIGHT NOW? I’ll just look stupid.” It doesn’t matter what happens in the situation, that’s God’s job. What He wants is us to come boldly before Him. To know that we can ask for these things in Jesus’ name. No, He won’t always heal someone in the ways we can see, but He is still working. So start expecting!
