Hot off the Press!

I just got back in from doing the stuff tonight and it’s 12:20 AM. I felt like the Lord wanted me to go ahead and write down what happened while it was still fresh in my mind. So, here it goes. As usual, we got together and prayed and asked the Lord where to go and who to go to. I got a cafe in town as well as some other words about physical problems. We then prayed into the location and asked for some more specific things. As we were doing that, I saw a man in a shirt and jeans with horizontal stripes on his shirt that were light blue and red. I also got the impression that a younger brother of his had leukemia and needed prayer. As it turns out, when we got to this cafe, there was the man! I talked to him a little and asked about his brother, but he said he didn’t have a brother with that condition, but he had a nephew with anemia. I also showed him the picture I drew before coming to the cafe of a man in a striped shirt and the colors. For some reason, he didn’t seem that interested. It makes me wonder, though, if a man from another country told me that God showed him my clothes and he drew them an hour before he met me if I would be interested in hearing what he had to say. Who knows? From the cafe, we headed downtown and found some really cheap, but good food and had our late-night snack. As we’re sitting there talking, there are two locals sitting behind us and DJ challenges us to get a word for one of them. I say that one of them has lower back pain. DJ then challenges me to do the approach. To be honest, for me, the approach is the hardest part of all. After all, isn’t it weird to walk up to a complete stranger and tell them that you think they have a pain somewhere in their body? I mean there might be some evangelist out there who’s been doing street stuff so long that it feels normal and he wouldn’t think twice if someone came up to him with the four spiritual laws or something, but I’m still of the mind that this is just nutty. Nonetheless, I follow the guy into the restaurant, greet him and then ask if he has pain in his lower back. Hey, how are you? Do you have a problem here? Good way to start a conversation, huh? As it so happened, he said he did and I led him out to our Arabic speakers to explain what just happened to him. He didn’t have a lower back problem, but he did have a shoulder problem that I got to pray for later on. As Tenacious B. and DJ explained the Trinity to these two guys in their language, I sat there wondering what God would have me tell them. My first word was about a house on the beach and it turned out to be wrong. I also sensed something about the stock market, but didn’t say anything. After a while, i felt brave again and told the one closest to me that I felt like he was a counselor and people came to him for advice. He was slow to answer, but his friend agreed very quickly. I also turned to his friend and told him that he had a good memory, did well in school, and had many friends in school, but now is lonely and longs for the days when he had those close friends. I also declared that the Lord was going to bring a new friend into his life and that he should remember that we told him about it beforehand. He confirmed the word about being a good student and having a good memory and looked expectant about the last part of the word. I also tried to give another word to the man sitting next to me about politics, but it came out then that he like the stock market, NOT politics so much. I was kind of bummed since I had sensed that earlier, but didn’t say anything. Sometimes, the prophetic is very timely. It doesn’t seem too supernatural to tell someone something about themselves if they just told you. Duh! DJ exchanged some phone numbers and we said good night. Now, it’s taken me about 12 minutes to put this all into words, but I hope it is an encouragement to someone out there who feels like I often do. I don’t feel particularly full of faith or confidence or bravery. I don’t feel at easy walking up to strangers. But, I’ll tell you one thing, there is a great freedom in knowing that unless God tells you something, you don’t really have anything to say. The key is learning to hear him and not just try to do it all by yourself. For me, this has been very life giving. When I think or know God has given me something for someone, it’s much easier to approach them than when I used to try to talk to people simply because I thought they were lost. We’ve got to get back to where we only do what we see Him doing. If you’re reading this blog in mostly disbelief, I hope our testimonies encourage you. I really feel like I’m doing all of this left-handed-- it’s awkward, weird, and unexplainable all at once. Moreover, it uses a part of your brain and heart that most of us have shut down. I feel like I’m swimming upriver every time I try to get a word for someone. But God is so gracious-- He’ll even cover our mistakes. Shooba.