More Insight

Insight

(Dragonfly Ministries President, Mary Hamrick)

October 2004

I’m a big chicken.  I don’t like going fast, I don’t like being in the water (unless it’s the bathtub), and I don’t particularly enjoy being in a big group of people that I don’t know.  And up until about 6 years ago, none of this bothered me.  That is, until, I hit the late-30s and decided that living a life of sheer self-protection was just crazy.  So I learned to snow ski.  Actually, my friend Lori taught me to ski.  I struggled through a half-day of ski instruction, and still felt nauseous when it was time to go up the mountain.  I was physically sick at the thought of putting on snow skis and going at a speed that I couldn’t control.  But, because of a determination to ‘get over it’, I bit my lip and took the plunge.  Lori saw me struggle, she recognized the pale of my face as being fear, and she taught me to ski with a simple game of ‘follow the leader’.  I followed her down the mountain, turn after turn, and that is how I learned to ski – but I still don’t like going fast; I like to ski the green runs, I like to ski for a maximum of four hours, and I like to ski without anyone around me so that I don’t feel pressured to go fast.  I don’t like going fast.  I don’t like to swim either, but that’s another story.

Since that time, I’ve challenged myself to conquer the different fears that I’ve tried hiding behind.  Being pushed outside our comfort zone isn’t pleasant, but if we’re not extended, we don’t grow.  After all, how do you learn to operate a computer if you’re not willing to turn it on and just get started?  How do you learn to drive a car without first sitting behind the wheel?  You get the point.  Well, right now, I’m living outside my comfort zone, but I know that God will use these lessons to strengthen me spiritually, to prepare me for things down the road that this ‘push’ is teaching me now.

The month that our family joined Gunpowder Baptist Church in Freeland, Maryland, we also joined a program called F.A.I.T.H. Ministry.  This ministry is evangelism, by nature, and involves attending weekly classes, scripture memorization, and visitation - it teaches us how to witness to others about the love of Jesus Christ.  Each session runs for 16 weeks.   Our church conducts these activities on Sunday afternoons, after church.  Andy felt led to do this, because he has a heart for people to come to know the Lord.  I followed in his footsteps because, as his wife, I believe that it is my role to support the ministries that God calls him into.

Did I want to join the FAITH ministry team?  No, because it pushes me outside my comfort zone.  Did I feel called to join the FAITH ministry team?  Yes, no question about it – in Matthew 28:19, Jesus told us to “Go and make disciples of all nations”, so without a question, without a second thought, I knew that we were called to be on this team.  But that still didn’t make me comfortable in going out and knocking on doors of people that I didn’t know.   However, we were told that most visits would be made to people who had visited our church, expressed an interest in having a visit, or to church members who were sick or shut-in, so there wouldn’t be many ‘cold calls’.

Contrary to the statement above, our first ministry visit was a ‘cold call’ to the home of a woman who had never attended our church, nor expressed an interest in having a visit.  But her name was on the card we were given, and we headed to her home.  When we arrived there, she was visiting with a friend, sitting at the kitchen table.  As we talked with them, we learned that the friend had recently been diagnosed with kidney disease and was undergoing dialysis.  He was very nervous about being on the national waiting list for a kidney.  We asked him about his faith in God and we shared with him the plan of salvation.  Then we prayed with him, for his health, for his well-being, for his family.  We left that afternoon knowing that God had indeed sent us to the home of this dear woman so that we could minister to her friend.  To my knowledge, he did not pray to receive Christ the day we visited, but I do know that the Bible teaches that when we speak words as directed by the Holy Spirit, those words do not return void, so I know that seeds of the love of God were planted in his heart that day.

During our second session of the FAITH ministry program, which started mid-August, we once again were handed a card to visit this same sweet woman.  She still had not expressed an interest in our church or asked that we visit her, but again, we had the card and we were going to be obedient to where God sent us.  When we arrived at her home this second time, we were welcomed with a hug and a cheerful grin.  As we walked into the kitchen, I noticed that she had company – again.   I have to admit that I was a little disappointed to see her friend there, because I thought that God has sent us there to visit with her this time, and with company there, we wouldn’t be able to get into the deep discussion that I thought God had sent us to have.  There were my thoughts, though I’m not proud of them.  I thought I knew God’s plan, and I thought this visitor was going to get in the way of God’s plan.  But we were there, and we may as well make the best of it. 

We introduced ourselves to the visitor, who didn’t have a whole lot to say to us – I felt that she was just as disappointed that we were there because we were interrupting her visiting time.  Anyway, we proceeded to talk to the woman we came to visit, trying to listen to the promptings of the Lord in what to say, how to minister to her.  We talked for a bit, and I prayed in my heart to understand why the Lord had sent us to this home again.  After several minutes, the Lord prompted me, “ask the visitor if there’s anything you can pray with her about?”  So I turned to her and asked the question.  Big tears welled up in her eyes and she began to cry.  She shared with us her heartache and the hurt she was trying to heal through, the difficulties in her life.  As she shared, she wept, and we cried with her.  There were no words of comfort that we could offer her from our own lives.  No, the words of comfort that were given her were from Psalm 91.  We held hands and we prayed for her and with her.  And as we stood to leave, both women hugged us and thanked us for the visit. 

And as I left, I was humbled.  I thought I was going to the house that day to minister to the name on my card.  Once again, God sent us to that very home to minister to another of His children.  I hope to learn one day that I don’t always know what the Lord has in store, but to follow obediently without question, without pretending to know His plan ahead of time.  Oh what a wonderful life we lead, a life of surprises, when we allow God to lead us without questioning His actions!

Two days after this visit, I saw “the visitor” in the aisle of the Wal-Mart store in our area.  I spoke her name and when she turned and saw me, she gave me a big hug and shared that our prayers were being answered, she was beginning to heal and reading the scripture was a big help.  As uncomfortable as cold calls make me, I hope that God will continue to send us to the homes of people that need Him, people that can be pointed to Him in their time of need.  And I pray for strength and courage in continuing to be obedient to Him. 

How about you?  Is there something that God is pressing upon your heart to do?  Are you struggling with the fear of what will happen if you obey Him?  If so, allow Him to teach you and “follow the leader”, His Spirit.  He will be your guide, step-by-step, turn-by-turn.  I’m not promising that you will always initially enjoy what He is leading you to do, it may make you nauseous and uncomfortable, but you will be blessed, and you will know that your obedience has opened up heaven’s gates for one of God’s children.   And your spiritual growth will catapult into a higher level through your obedience to Him.  Give it a try, say yes to Him and then watch Him work through you.

“The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”  Isaiah 58:11

Mary