October 28, 2024

Bing!

Ed looks at his phone to see who texted him and says. “It’s from the prison warden!” I look at him surprised, wondering what the message is.

In front of us, the TSA agent is shuffling trays along the conveyor belt. He asks the expected question. “So, what takes you to Argentina?”

“A missions trip,” I say, smiling and hoping not to sound too unusual.

After passing through the security scanners, we sit on a bench to put our shoes back on. I turn to Ed and ask: “What was the prison warden texting you about?”

Ed’s eyes gleam. “He said that we have several thousand prisoners praying night and day for our visit!”

“Wow!”

After an incredible revival in a prison in Argentina a few years ago where a few faith-filled inmates began ministering to their fellow prisoners, thousands of them became Christians, and they’ve now formed into an unconventional army of intercessors, many of whom pray constantly for Ed and the TOW team.

Ed and I weave our way through the crowds of other travelers to reach our gate. As we finally reach our destination and put down our heavy bags, I say, “I don’t think I could’ve ever imagined having a prison full of inmates praying for us.”

Ed smiles. “Sixty years ago, I couldn’t have imagined that either! I loved my city, San Nicolas; I wanted to see it saved, but at first, I was so nervous to share the gospel, I couldn’t even find the courage to hand a gospel tract to the man sitting next to me on the bus. So I started small, and each and every day, I got a little bit bolder, because I knew it was what God wanted me to do.”

I think about this as we pick up a hot breakfast near the gate. A verse comes to mind, Luke 16:10: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”

How many of us are frustrated with the “very little” that God’s given us to work with? It’s like if you went to the gym for the first time, and instead of grabbing the smallest dumbbells, you reach for the biggest ones. Protein-shake chugging gym goers stare as you struggle, with floppy wrists and shaking muscles, to do a bicep curl until you’re gasping for air and the weights fall to the ground with a crash!

What a good personal trainer would encourage you to do instead is be faithful and consistent with the weights they know you’re able to handle, and eventually, you’ll be ready to lift the biggest ones. In the same way, many of us are frustrated with the “small dumbbells” God has handed us. Like Ed, we may see very little progress in the beginning, and it’s tempting to give up. We want the stadium full of people, the Biblically-based business model that revolutionizes an industry, the celebrity tearfully sharing how we brought them to Christ.

But here’s the thing: your “yes!” to God today could lead you down a path to things you could never even imagine. Be faithful in what God’s given you in this season of your life, and never stop believing for the great things God has ahead!

– Eutychus