A few days ago we went on an ATL adventure (Ask the Lord). Our team was split into two groups and each group was given a packet with directions, money and our leader’s phone numbers in case of an emergency. Before we set off, our group spent some time praying, asking God for His direction and for Him to do abundantly more than we could ask or imagine. Soon, the time for departure arrived and the 6 of us headed down the street to find a bus that would take us to the Puerto Barrios market.
We successfully hailed a bus and were safely on our way when suddenly we stopped. Initially, we were unsure of what was going on, that is until Tabitha said “get off the bus! it’s on fire! Well, in reality, it was smoking because it had overheated. We all clambered off the bus and eventually found a new bus that took us all the way to the market. Needless to say, we had quite the adventure at the onset of our journey!
From that point on, we spent the day talking with people, praying with them, and seeking God as to what He wanted us to do. The first two conversations our team had went very well as my teammates were able to encourage the ladies they spoke with through their own stories and through prayer. After the first couple hours though, we began to get frustrated. Several conversations didn’t really go anywhere and the people didn’t really want to talk with us. We prayed again, and God encouraged us through another good connection.
The rest of the day was somewhat of a roller coaster of prayers for guidance (and sometimes quite desperate ones I might add), and God faithfully answering them and encouraging us with good conversations and conversations to share the little food we were able to buy with a couple of homeless people.
That night, I was discouraged about the day. I had wanted to see God work in new, and big ways and because of that I lost sight of the many ways He had answered our prayers throughout the day. Through talking with Liz and Cameron later and through journaling/processing the day, God reminded me of many truths.
The first is that sometimes God uses us to plant seeds and we don’t always see the result of those seeds. Paul even mentions this in 1 Corinthians “ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” Quite simply, God often uses us as part of many steps in the journey of others, but ultimately He is the one who causes growth.
Next, God reminded me of what He said in Matthew, “Truly I say to you, as you did to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” When we were able to give food and cold water to the homeless woman laying alone, and broken on the corner, it is like doing it for Christ. Even though we weren’t able to talk to her much, we never know what God might do through that encounter. Finally God reminded me of Hebrews 6:10 “For God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do.” Again, although I can’t always see the results of the work God calls me to, He will be faithful and continue to use it.
Sometimes God calls us to plant seeds.
And we must faithfully do so!
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