Planted Underground

"We come to the mission field with great expectations of how we will build God's church, only to have Jesus grab us, whack off some unnecessary flesh, pound us into a shape He can use, and stick us underground as one small part of the foundation (of His church). Then He covers us up with dirt. We are stunned - we came to be mighty builders. Instead, God deconstructs us and uses us to play a hidden part that others will never see or praise."

Live Dead Joy devotional by Dick Brogden

That quote perfectly describes what God has been doing in my life this week. But how to put flesh to the bones and truly tell you everything that has happened in my heart would be a monumental challenge.

The Holy Spirit convicted me of my internal sins of skepticism and pride. He shed a light on His Word so that I could understand it in a deeper way and that light reflected into the depth of my soul and revealed hidden shadows of the past. Finally, after removing those barriers and revealing those shadows, He was able to restore several broken relationships in my life, including with a team member.

One practical take away for me, said well at the end of the quote above "...a hidden part that others will never see..." is that I am not playing a visible role in the life of my friends in the community right now. But the Holy Spirit is still active, He moves among them even as they fast for a month trying to please Him but completely separated from Him in their sin. He peers into their hearts and knows exactly what they need to see or hear to understand that He is the One, True God. He alone can reveal to them that no one comes to Him except through Jesus Christ, His Son, who died and rose again.

My prayer, my plea to God, is that He would be active in their hearts during this time. May He be drawing them to Himself, reminding them of truths they have heard from His Word and conversations we have had, and between just Him and them bring them to salvation. May they believe in Him because He has done a mighty work in their hearts and revealed Himself to them. May this be, even as I sit underground waiting for Him to call me back out to marvel at His work that He accomplished during lockdown.