A Dream of Faith

So many times, during these 6 months back in the states, I have looked at them.

They are huge, sometimes nameless, and all of them seem dreadful.
They all loom in the distance, threatening me…
telling me,
‘If you come down this way we’ll be waiting, and your tiny heart that wants to serve is no match for us!’
Do I believe them? Do I call it off because of the safety life here offers?

Tonight as I was swinging silently under the stars in the back yard, I remembered what the pastor in the little town of Luansha said to me.  He said,
‘In everything you do there will be giants and there will be grapes.
You must not look at the giants, you must focus on the grapes.’
The grapes are worth it, and the giants are no match for God.
I could list the giants… using them to make me look brave or holy, when in reality I am just focused on them and scared.

Well, tonight I asked God to blow down the giants and put in me enough fire to bring me back to Africa.
And I decided in my heart to glory in the grapes, and stand the giants up next to God.

What are the grapes Lord?

The grapes are precious lives that will be saved by the gospel I get to bring.
The grapes is that little girl that will look up to me, and be forever changed because of the love of Jesus and the Mzungu who told her she was worth something.
The grapes are the people who may follow after me, and come to see the land themselves, and be changed.
It is the deep relationships I will enter into as we lock arms for His battle.
It’s the love that I’ll get to feel pouring out of me as I let Him love them through me.
It’s the family of orphan children who will know how to grow corn, and who will have mango trees and paw paw trees to keep them fed and strong.
It’s the little girl who will learn how to read, and who will grow up to teach the younger girls that they are loved and special, and worth waiting for.
It’s the generations of true believers that will follow each life that chooses His ways.
It’s the smile in the eyes of our Father as He looks on me and says “I love you dear daughter, good job!”

That is worth forgetting all those giants for.
That is gold.

These grapes are small… and right now just a dream of faith.
But I believe they will grow, and some day we will see them, huge, and shining greater than anything Michigan rust can corrupt.