Do Not Worry

This past Monday morning we woke up and began eating breakfast with a specific goal in mind to accomplish afterwards. My husband and I are goal oriented people and accomplishing tasks gives us a sense of purpose. It’s one of those quirky things we humans do to.

So, our goal for the day: We were going to the market to buy food to cook for the week. We had our minds made up – come heaven or high water! The first 2 weeks we were here our African hosts, Kwame & Suzie, were cooking every meal for us. We decided it was past time to begin this time consuming task ourselves. We discussed with them that we’d start cooking our own meals and manage for ourselves. We were very determined to get something to cook that we wanted to eat – something familiar – something not African.

As we were nearly finished eating our breakfast Kwame came in to tell us that Jean, a member of the church here in Niamey, was going to be at our house at 10:00 A.M. to take us to visit a lady who attends the church, but hadn’t been coming lately.

It was 9:45 A.M. My mind began altering plans and changing modes reluctantly. I thought to myself, “But we weren’t planning on doing a house visit today. Especially with a 15 minute notice!”. Our plan of going to the market to buy food, which we needed for lunch, was not going to happen. This is a big deal, it’s not like we can just whip through the drive-thru here to grab something to eat – sometimes it takes 2 hours just to prepare a simple meal – that’s if you already have the food at your house.

To be frank, I was mad. I had this overwhelming desire to be independent… and to go to the market… and buy my food… and cook it for my husband and myself… and......– but now, we were going to do a house visit instead. This meant we wouldn’t be going to the market or cooking for ourselves. So what were we supposed to eat for lunch? And who knew time we’d eat it for that matter.

Jean came to our house and we made our 10 minute walk to the ladies house. If you can believe it or not, when we got there, she was not home! Arriving to find the woman not even at her house when we had changed our plans added the cherry on top, if you will. 2 weeks of being dependent on someone else for every meal was being prolonged unnecessarily, and the hope of cooking what we wanted to eat evaporated into the mid-morning air like the smoke of a camp fire as it nearly burns itself out.

However, another woman from the church lived in the same compound and she invited us into her home. Her front room was about a 12 x 12 foot room. It consisted of four gray colored cement walls, an old army looking cot, four chairs, a rickety coffee table, a cabinet with some food in it, and on top sat a 10 inch TV which was meaninglessly playing some sort of African music videos no one was even watching. As we sat down she invited 2 friends to come inside. I knew what was going to happen. The whites had come in to her home so it was our responsibility to tell her friends about Jesus. At that moment, I realized what an ugly heart I have sometimes as I struggled silently in my own mind, frustrated that my plans for the day had been changed to come visit a woman who wasn’t even home, and now we were going to have to evangelize. To be completely honest, which you know I am most of the time, I simply didn’t want to do it. Oh, my ridiculous heart.

Tim began to talk with them, since I was silently refusing to. He started with the idea of where people come from and asked them their idea of what a good person is like. They chatted for a while about the topic and I decided that I in fact, did want to be a part of the conversation. I ended up sharing an illustration of marriage with the two women. How God pursues all people and draws them to himself – but a good person is not able to go to God on his own accord – there has to be someone in the middle. “So God had to send Jesus as a human baby who grew up in a family just like that baby", and I pointed to the baby one of the women was nursing. "Because by ourselves we can never be 'good enough' to get to God who offers us eternal life”. I said a lot more things that I don’t remember, but I know that God was using my mouth to share His deep desire to know these two women.

So picture this - here we were sitting in this woman’s house who we didn’t even come to visit, sharing the gospel with 2 women who had never heard of Jesus and the eternal life He came to the earth to bring. All the while I had been so pre-occupied with going to the market to buy food to cook and eat so that my little self could feel independent and accomplished.

God continues to till the soil of my life and heart and plant new seeds in me. Seeds of humility and service and a heart that gives.

In Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount, he pleas with his disciples, “Do Not Worry”…you've probably heard it all before...God will take care of you - you shouldn't worry. But what was Jesus talking about - do not worry about what? “About your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?…But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”. Wow – talk about a stomach punch.

This passage kept flashing in my mind all afternoon as I thought about how selfish I had tried to be with my time and my own desires…worrying about what we would even eat for lunch if we were going to do a house visit instead of buying food. When we got home our lunch was already being prepared – so why was I so worried about it beforehand? I remembered Jesus’ words to His disciples and they became real to me that day, “Shannon, don’t worry about what you’ll eat or drink or what you’ll fix for lunch– just follow where I’m leading and be a part of the restoration I’m doing on earth – and somehow you’ll find a way to fill your stomach – and I’ll give you a sense of accomplishment that’s for something eternal!”

What a privilege to share Jesus with these 2 ladies. Wherever you’re at in life and whomever you are serving - Jesus offers the same freedom he gave to His disciples long ago and to me on this altered Monday morning… “Do Not Worry”….