"'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,' says the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.'" (Isaiah 55:8,9)
Have you ever seen
or been in a play where a supporting actor or actress seems quite insignificant
and you were not really sure why that individual was in the play until you reached the climatic final
scene and you see why that person had his or her small, but important, part?
In
February 2000 Miriam went on a short-term mission trip with a team from another church in our city as a translator for a medical/dental mission team going to the
jungles of Ecuador. It was a dangerous and harrowing trip for her in many ways.
She watched the driver of the bus put eye drops in his eyes as he drove the bus
on a winding mountain road, with no guardrails, at midnight the first day in
country. She watched a truck pull within one inch of her face as she stood at
the edge of a river ferry with no railings that was preparing to cross a fast
moving flooding river on the way to a village. (Her husband was prompted
several times to pray for her while she was gone and when she returned, he found out why.)
At the end of the week they packed
up their belongings and headed to a small rural airstrip that would take the
team to Quito for their flight home. They were in the jungle, in the middle of
nowhere, with nothing but one long building and the airstrip. As they were
sitting in the small waiting room there was suddenly a cry for help, in English! A man and his wife from California had been vacationing by visiting the jungle and
she had fallen down and broken her hip. He came rushing into the building and
asked if there was a doctor anywhere around. Immediately 4 doctors responded
and the man had more help than he could imagine. There was also a local Ecuadorian
doctor and nurse in a small clinic that supported a platoon of soldiers
stationed at the airfield.
They all scrambled to meet the new
emergency and soon the lady with the broken hip was in a bed and all five
doctors were attempting to take care of the new patient. Miriam had been
sitting exhausted from the previous weeks work and had no desire to get up and
help until suddenly the call went out that they needed a translator. She
entered the small room with one patient, 5 doctors, one nurse and one husband
all talking and arguing at the same time. The local doctor was trying to
administer a pain killer but the American doctors would not let him because the
women was on a medication that would not allow her to take that medicine. Also
the Ecuadorian doctor wanted to set the leg one way and the Americans said it had to
be a different way. Finally, the Ecuadorian doctor got offended and stormed out
of the room and the nurse, equally irate, went and posted two armed soldiers at
the door and told them in Spanish: “Don’t let anyone out of this room unless I
tell you.” The American doctors were oblivious to this action as two worked on
the woman and two more proceeded to tell the husband and wife about Jesus.
Miriam was in shock! How are we going to ever get out of here? Our plane
will be here soon and they are not going to let us out of this room. They are angry, and they have the soldiers with rifles! A few minutes later the nurse
returned and asked Miriam in Spanish. “Why are you with these people? You are
not like them.” Miriam responded, “I am originally from Venezuela, but I
married an American soldier many years ago and now I am an American citizen
living in the United States.”
The nurse replied, “Oh, the exact same thing happened to my best friend.
There were some American Army Rangers training here last year and she married
one of them and moved to the U.S. too. I miss her very much.” Miriam then asked
her if she knew where her friend and her husband were stationed and she replied
that she didn’t know. Then suddenly she said, “Wait, I have a letter she sent
me in my pocket book. I will go get it and see what it says.” When she returned
with the letter she said, “It says she is living in Fort Gordon, Georgia. Do you
know where that is?” Miriam smiled. “Yes, I live about a 10 minute drive from
Fort Gordon. Would you like to write a letter and have me deliver it to her?”
“Would
you do that for me?” she asked, as her entire countenance and attitude changed. “Yes, I will.” said Miriam and the nurse immediately got a pen and paper
and started writing. She also turned to the armed soldiers and said, “Hey you
guys can go now.” As she finished writing the letter, she sealed it up and
handed it to Miriam. Meanwhile,
the two doctors who had been telling the patient and her husband about Jesus
had both of them pray the sinners prayer and accept Jesus as their Lord and
Savior!
Just then, they could hear the wheels of the airplane landing to take
them to Quito, and the nurse gave orders for all the soldiers to help the
Americans load the patient and all the teams’ supplies on the airplane. Miriam
breathed a sigh of relief and thankfulness as she boarded the plane and gave
thanks for a personal God who would orchestrate all that he did just so these
two American tourists could come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and
Savior, and that God would allow her to play a small role in helping it to
happen! (She delivered the letter to the best friend the next week.)
Pray:
1.
Lord help me to always look for opportunities to
be used by You to point others to Christ and His redemptive love.
2.
Help me never to be discouraged in the light of
difficult problems and trials because I know that you are in charge and You
have a wonderful plan even in the midst of total chaos.
3.
Lord thank you that you are a loving God that is
always pursuing us to be Yours.
Help us to live each day with expectation to see what You have planned
for us next.
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