February 11, 2018

God is Faithful

“God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.”  1 Cor. 1:9

Many years ago, I sensed the Lord encouraging me to go on a mission trip to Ukraine as He had something there for me.  After much prayer and deliberation, I joined the team and off we went.  The trip itself was incredible – filled with special moments and the lots of opportunities to share the gospel, to love on women young and old and even watch as a new church was planted in front of our eyes.  It was wondrous and yet as each day passed, I kept waiting for what God had for me.  I knew He was faithful, it was just that I hadn’t seen it yet.

We reached the last full day of our trip.  Our travels had taken us to many locations throughout the country.  On this final day, we were scheduled to visit another orphanage.  As we made our way I asked the Lord to make it clear what He had for me.  We arrived at the orphanage and had a great visit with the children there.  We were allowed to spend a little extra time with two of the children.  As the visit with them ended and the van returned to the orphanage, we said good bye to the two children.  My heart was pounding hard as I watched them get out of the van and begin walking up the drive.  I was compelled to leap out of the van and cry out their names.  Another team member was right behind me.  The two children turned and looked at us – then turned and looked at the women in charge of the orphanage waiting for them.  They hesitated – and we held out our arms.  Slowly, brother and sister walked back to us.  And then it happened, the moment God had for me.  This young teen boy put his arms around me and hugged me and I hugged him and Jesus had to have been hugging both of us.  

That hug from that boy was Christ’s healing balm poured all over me.  It went into the deep hidden places where I had been hurting.  The beauty of the moment was that I knew it as I experienced it, and so all I could do was cry.  God was faithful and had chosen this boy from an orphanage to be the arms of Jesus wrapped around a broken mom.  Healing had made a holy visitation in an unlikely place.  I was forever changed by that divine moment.