Well, I've wanted
to write to you about one particular journey that I've been on since I arrived
in Madagascar, but at times it's difficult to write about what God is teaching
you when you are not anywhere close to where you know He will finish with you.
You see, several years ago I took a personality test and
on the bottom of the list for my personality was mercy. Honestly, I kind of thought it was funny at
the time, but as I look through my life I see how the area of not having mercy
has hindered relationships and stolen my own joy. In the first weeks here in Madagascar the
Lord spoke a verse into my life as I was reading in Matthew. Jesus quotes to the Pharisees Hosea 6:6 when
he says, "Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not
sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." Matthew 9:13
Mercy, not sacrifice??
Wow, it hit me pretty hard because I had sacrificed a lot to come to
Madagascar. If God desires mercy and not
sacrifice then I could quit my job, move a half world away, sell my stuff, eat
weird food, live without amenities, learn a language, and be away from family
and at the end of it all if I didn't have mercy then it all could amount to
nothing.
A few weeks ago the Lord reminded me while reading His
word of this pursuit to be merciful. I
prayed that I would not quench His Spirit's leading.
That afternoon I was finishing up playing
some soccer and a man approached me on my walk home. He spoke English and was telling me about his
life. Often we get approached by people
asking for money for a sickness or food.
This man told me about several sicknesses he had and said he was in need
of surgery, but did not have the money.
In talking some more we found out that we both play guitar and we
discussed where he lived and worked. I
thought to myself that I should give this man some money, maybe $4 (2 days
wage). He continued to talk and invited
me to his house. I told him that I would
come by the next day and visit with him.
Before we walked away I prayed with him.
When walking away I said to myself, "Mercy is not throwing money at
someone to get them off your back, mercy is visiting this man's family
tomorrow."
The next day came and I walked to the man's house. Before going I prayed for God's guidance and
work. Little did I know that I would be
at his house for over 2 hours just talking.
We sat on a wooden bench and I listened to him play guitar and sing
quietly because it hurts him to sing loud.
I let his chickens run over my feet, his toddler cry in fear of me, and his
cigarette smoke fill my lungs. After an
hour and a half of being there I was asking for the road (permission to leave)
and he began to tell me a story about a dream he had when he slept for 3 days
straight. He went to heaven in his dream
and traveled a hard path to get to where Jesus was. Upon entering the house where Jesus was a man
approached him with a huge book. The man
asked his name and looked in the book for his name. My new friend's name was not in the
book. Two big men grabbed him and took
him out of the house and began to drown him in some deep puddles. Then he woke up.
The man told me that he had the dream so that he could
tell his friends the path to take when getting to heaven. I asked him why his name was not in the
book. He did not know. I explained the book of life to him briefly
and told him that if I had a dream and my name was not in the book I would be
afraid. He thought he had a dream about
how to navigate heaven, but I think he had a dream about not getting into
heaven. I encouraged him to pray and ask
God the meaning of his dream. I also
told him that Jesus was the only way to get to heaven, the only way to be justified. Jesus is the only map!
He looked at me with concern and said, "I will
pray." He also invited me back to
play guitar with him and his friends and told me to bring a Bible next time so
we can read it together.
I'm left with one question in mind, what if I would have
thrown money at him in an attempt to get him off my back?
I believe that the Spirit's leading in our lives to DO
something doesn't stop with us doing something, but makes an impact on His kingdom.
So get out there and let mercy make you DO something!
For His Amazing Work,
Andrew
