Listening to the Lord in Jamaica
This past week our team had the pleasure of staying at the Salvation Army School for the Blind in Kingston. We were able to work alongside their staff in various projects and ministry including maintenance and improvement projects for the school and the Church as well as hosting a neighborhood Vacation Bible School. VBS was every morning and consisted of both kids from the neighborhood and kids from a Children’s Home there on site at the Salvation Army.
On one particular morning, in the middle of VBS I found myself a bit disengaged from ministry and thought, I’m here to be hands on and involved.. I need to plug in. As I felt that internal motivation pulling me to step in to helping with either games or crafts I heard the Lord say, “I need you to go sit.” And He directed me to go to an area where no one was.
Now my first thought was, Lord..no one is over there. My team will think I’m being lazy or not helping. I need to engage here. But again the Lord said, “I need you to go sit over there.” So after a few more moments of arguing with Him I went and sat down where He had directed me.
After spending a moment in prayer, apologizing for my stubbornness and asking for patience and wisdom, I little girl came up and sat beside me. She took my hand without saying a word and with her thumb she began to stroke the top of my hand. She rested her head on my shoulder and then she looked at me and told me that I looked like her mom.
She then told me that my eyes were pretty just like her moms and that she didn’t know when her mom was coming back but that her grandmother was taking care of her for now.
We sat there for a moment as she continued to rub my hand and I stroked her hair. We made small talk for a while and then she got up and walked away.
Shortly after that a young boy and a little girl came and sat down. They were asking questions about my country and wanted to see my phone and look at pictures of my family. I found out that the two of them were actually cousins. The little girls mom had died about a year ago and her father had dropped her off at her cousins house and never came back. So we just played and laughed and giggled and they told me that they couldn’t wait to come back the next day.
That sort of scenario continued to happen the whole time that I sat there. Small quiet intimate connections that would have been missed had I not surrendered my will to His.
I am astounded by the Lord’s faithfulness and goodness every time I take that risk of trusting in His leading rather than my own. Those moments I wouldn’t trade for the world. Truly we serve and know such a great and wonderful God who longs to be intimately acquainted with each of us and to meet our needs by any means He chooses.
Yes and amen!
– written by Julie Johnson & edited by Robin Howell
