A Walk with God

This past Saturday I had a very relaxing, slow morning. I read for a long time, dozed on and off, and watched a few episodes of the Cosby show. By 2pm I was pretty restless and somewhat bored. I needed to get airtime (minutes) for my phone and I wanted to grab a few other things. I didn't have a car and didn't really want to spend money on a boda so I walked down the hill to a local shop. I purchased my airtime and started walking home, but I decided to walk past my road. With no plan I headed down the road with nothing but my phone in my pocket. The road was busy with cars and bodas speeding by and people walking along. I felt like it was a good opportunity to just walk with God and have a much needed conversation. As I was strolling along, two girls walked past me and greeted me. Their names were Mariam and Viola. We struck up a short conversation as we continued together down the road.

As we went, I felt the Lord prompting me to witness to them. I've been feeling so ineffective these days so I wrestled with God on this issue for a few minutes, but finally agreed. I asked them if they were born again (asking if someone is Christian is too broad here, everywhere for that matter). With a smile on her face, Mariam answered with a resounding, "yes!" I responded with the very typical, "praise the Lord," and she followed with an, "amen." We talked about church for a few minutes and then they branched off and headed a different way.

At first I was confused as to why God had prompted me to talk to these girls about faith in Jesus. If they already knew Him, then why should I witness to them? As I continued my stroll I prayed for the girls, for their families, and for their lives. I must have looked like a crazy person as a wide smile spread across my face at the realization that the meeting wasn't for them, it was for me. It was God's reminder that I'm really not here doing this alone even if that's how I feel sometimes. AND it's for a reason that I'm here... to minister to people like those sweet girls that I'll probably never see again. It's one thing to be surrounded by awesome missionaries, but quite another when they're all married with families or at completely different stages in their lives.

I like going on random hour-long walks with God. It makes me smile. Here's Isaiah 61:1-3. It's been a good reminder for me these days.

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—