God's on the move! Either go with, or get out of the way!

But the next day came. The sun rose over the Indian ocean in all its splendor announcing the new mercies of God. And off to prison we went.

We had our large group time in which one of my team members spoke a message to the whole, which I was more than happy to have nothing to do with. If you know me at all, I am quite the introvert. That is probably why I am much happier sitting on this side of the keyboard, knowing that anyone whose eyes may come across my words will actually be fairly removed from me in person. Somehow that's much more comfortable for me. I know, I'm a coward. But God is merciful and patient, and so I hung out at the back waiting for large group to disperse.

When the large group broke up, the young man who had demanded conversation the day before approached me once again. I sat down with him, with great fear and trembling. What would I say today? How would I pass the time until we could get out of there? How would it go?

He began: "You gave me a story to read yesterday."

Me: "Yes, I did." (Hear great trembling in the tiny voice that came out, maybe even some cracks in it.)

Man: "Well, I read it. Over and over again last night."

Me: "Oh, wow." (searching brain frantically. what do I say??? what do I say now??)

Man: "The story was about Zacchaeus. He was a thief. And Jesus called him out and wanted to sit with him, break bread with him. Jesus forgave him all his sins."

Me: "Yes, that's true." (seriously grasping here for SOMETHING to say. nothing comes to mind or tongue)

Man: "I'm a thief. I'm serving time for robbery and assault."

Me: "Oohh. Ok..." (ahhh!! what do I say? what do I do? scanning courtyard for closest exit!)

Man: "So, what I was wondering is this: if Jesus was able to sit with Zacchaeus and forgive him all his sins, do you think He would do the same for me?"

Me: "Huh?" (did I miss something? because it sounds a whole lot like there's some salvation taking place here, and I might have missed it in my fear and unbelief!)

Man: "Do you think that Jesus would forgive me too?"

Me: "Well, yes. Yes, I do think that He would forgive you."

Man: "That's what I thought too, so last night I asked Jesus to save me from my sins."

Me: "Huh?" (what just happened here? did a man just get saved?!?! and I got to be there for his harvest???!?!?!)

As my body began to relax in my seat a bit, and the realization of what had just happened truly sunk in, I began to smile, which then turned to outright laughter. I did nothing. In fact, I just barely showed up. With much grumbling and disbelief, I displayed a tiny (teeny tiny!) amount of obedience to at least show up, and was able to witness an incredible harvest that had been planted and tended to for years. Imagine!

Over the next few days, I kind of sat back, breathing deeply, thinking that I had done what God had taken me there to do. I was coasting until our time was up there.

Silly girl, God had just begun. He was moving and that was my warning shot. Get moving with Him, or get out of the way. He was about to blow my socks off. At least I got a warning shot.

Hang with me...I'm coming to a point...