This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ~ I Samuel 17:46
As I mentioned in my last post, I got the opportunity to go to New York City in October and work with the New York School of Urban Ministry. Once again I wanted to share with you a story of something that occurred on our trip that touched my heart.
A couple days into our trip we got to lead a service at the Bowery Mission. I could go on and on about this night, but for time’s sake I’ll just tell you one story. One of the guys from our group gave an awesome message about David and Goliath. He shared that we all have a Goliath in our life – something that seems too big for us to conquer on our own. It could be an addiction, financial, a relationship, or many other things. He proceeded to tell this room filled with homeless individuals that each person there was a champion. It was incredible to imagine what the people there had faced and what they must be thinking when they were told they were champions. This man from our group when on to share that when David stepped up in faith to fight Goliath it says that he told Goliath, “The Lord will hand you over to me!” He pointed out that it was God who delivered Goliath to David as soon as David stepped out in faith and the victory was not dependent on David’s strength. At the altar call he invited anyone up to receive prayer and support for the giant in their life.
Although I wasn’t assigned to do altar mission, I happened to notice one more person come forward than people we had serving. After a split second of considering it, I stepped forward to pray with this man. I want you to get an image in your mind of what this looked like. I’m just over five feet tall and this gentleman was well over six feet. On my tip toes I didn’t even reach his shoulders! I came forward, took his hands, and asked what he would like me to pray for. He proceeded to tell me that he had been a heroine addict for over twenty-two years and he knew he needed to stop. Standing on my tip toes so he might be able to hear me, God allowed me to pray for this man. As I shared with my team afterwards, I can’t even tell you what I said. Words just started flowing from my mouth so that I could just sit back and listen to what was going on. It was such an amazing experience. During this time one of the professors that came with us stepped forward and put his hand on my shoulder to pray for me as I was praying for this man. As I told him later, not only was he offering me spiritual support, but his hand was also holding me steady as I stood on tip toes to pray! It may seem like a minor detail, but it showed me that God was even working in the little details.
I want to conclude my show and tell time with the reminder that I did not do any of this on my own. God provided every part of this trip from the finances to the organizations we served with to the encounters I had with people. He gave me the strength and courage to do all that He asked of me. When you step forward in faith, obeying the Lord, He will provide all you need.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. ~ Isaiah 40:31
