“Why do you say and complain ‘My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God?’ Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God…He will not grow tired or weary…He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak…Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles…” Isaiah 40: 27-31
Sitting around our living room, each young woman was lost in the thoughts of her own heart, in dialogue between her and her heavenly Father. Music softly played in the background, Bibles were opened to Isaiah 40, and pastels gently moved across paper, creating pieces of art.
This last month of school, God put it on my (Dove’s) heart to hold a soaking session at our house one night a week. Shifting around pieces of our schedule, Indy and I opened up Friday night, and instead of hanging out with friends or joining the Friday night crowd, the girls in our Asian church gathered together to spend time in God’s presence, quieting their hearts to hear His voice. Some of them have even brought friends who are not yet believers!
One of the special parts of our time together is the artwork that is birthed out of the time with our precious Jesus. Towards the end of our two hours, those who have drawn a picture explain what their picture is and the meaning they sense God intended for it. This week, I looked up from reading and meditating on Isaiah 40 to see each one of the girls intently focused on drawing. It occurred to me that of those who came this night, each one was a senior, about to graduate and leave the school in two weeks. My heart swelled with pride at who they have become, and it filled with deep sadness, knowing that my time with them is almost over. I met most of these girls over three years ago, and it takes the investment of time to develop close, meaningful friendships like these. I began to feel weary of trying to make new friends. The thought of starting over next semester, trying to meet new students and make close, meaningful friendships out of them, was more than I wanted to bear.
As the girls shared the meaning of their pictures, Jane’s ministered to me tremendously. (Remember Jane? I met her three years ago, but just this semester God worked miraculously in her heart, and she has started to follow Him!). In the first pane, she showed a person running on a track and falling down because of weariness. In the second pane, she explained that God had come and breathed strength and wind to pick the person up and to help them to keep running, almost flying instead of running. I felt she was talking about me! In tears, I told them how I was feeling and how the picture truly reflected God’s heart to encourage me. The other girls had similar moving experiences as we went around and shared the pictures with the group. We were all amazed at how clearly God was speaking to us! He is constantly at work to build faith and trust within us!
Please keep us in prayer as we finish up the semester. Classes (exams) finish the first week of July. We are still partnering with God to see students take one more step closer to Him even as they are busy finishing out the school year. Specifically, please pray with us that Jane will move forward with getting baptized. She’s been back and forth every week on this issue. The struggle is real for her, but we know the greater strength that comes in surrendering to God’s Lordship, even when we don’t fully understand everything. She has returned home, but we trust that God will be helping her to keep growing, even when we aren’t right with her.