"I desire mercy, not sacrifice"

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