Stranger Speaks Of God's Hope

This next story is from Joanna Rust. At the time of writing this, she had just gotten back from a ten day Mexico mission trip, so the story below is her journey back home from that trip. Joanna lives in the state of Washington with her family and keeps busy with many things including blogging. Enjoy!

~Tiffany

We arrived in the Tucson, AZ airport in the late afternoon, and said goodbye to the gentlemen, while us three young women took the same flight to Phoenix, AZ. The Lord even provided that we could sit together! After arriving at Phoenix, the other girls departed on their respective flights a short time later. I had over two hours to wait. I got something to eat while treasuring some re-cap time with the Lord. I would miss the team and the Mexican people greatly, and wondered how I would process the trip in the weeks to come. In my heart I asked God, "What difference did my presence on this trip make for Your glory? Did it influence anyone? And how, how in the world, should I go about the next few weeks? Will this throw me for a loop, will I be able to function, will I rejoice in You? Little hope please?"

He spoke to my heart gently, and while reading in the book of Isaiah, gave me this verse, regarding a day to come (heaven?, I wondered, oh how I crave heaven!): "And it will be said in that day: 'Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.'" (Is 25:9) With that written down and meditating in my heart, I walked to my flight's gate. It was a pretty full area. With a pack of Kleenx, I sat next to a lady, who I then saw did not want to talk. "That's okay," I thought, "I'm too emotional right now anyway." I started reading some more in Isaiah, but the lady on the other side of me, who I hadn't noticed, interrupted. "That's a cool pot. Where are you coming from?" she asked. I managed to tell her a quick summery of the trip, and asked her what she was about doing. She said she was returning from an internship at the International House of Prayer, and spoke of her belief in Jesus Christ and God's work through His Word.

Then she asked if she could pray for me. I thought, "Holy wow, I usually come to an airport looking for someone else to pray for; but am probably going to cry my eyes out if she prays for me. Nonetheless, that would be a ginormous blessing." So I warned her, "Well, I'm extremely emotional right now, so I hope you don't mind my tears...but I would love prayer." She asked if she could lay a hand on my shoulder, and proceeded to ask God to bless the work we had done on the trip. I wish I could remember more of what she said, and hopefully it will be like a dream that I remember a day later. But then she looked at me, though I could barely look up, and said something like, "I knew as soon as you sat down, before you even opened your Bible, that you were a Christian. I can just sense the Holy Spirit in you. He is so powerful in your life. I believe that the Lord wants me to share with you that you have like a major influence on the lives of those you touch. Your life is so important to Him and the lives of those around you, so you need to believe it." I could hardly stand it. That was exactly contrary to one of the... lies... I had been asking God about just a few minutes earlier. I thanked her for sharing. Yet she continued. "Just looking in your eyes, I can also see that you are dealing with a great sadness, something that had hurt you very deeply. I believe the Lord wants me to let you know that this time of great sorrow will soon be over. He will be your hope. He will change things so that You are able to be so joyful and just-SO know that He is God. I mean, I know you already know that, but You will be able to shout it from the roof tops and let your heart dance! You will be able to share what He has done openly, without shame, so others can praise Him. So have hope in Him! You have that hope! She mentioned several Scripture passages that spoke of hope in the Lord, and like Isaiah 43 says, not being overcome with fire or water when storms come. This was the second lie that Satan had tempted me with: a lack of hope. Overcome with tears, I thanked her for letting the Holy Spirit speak through her.

On the flight home, I was blessed that the seat next to her was empty and she invited me to sit there. It was an incredible blessing to lay out or Bibles and search passage after passage, and speak of overcoming the enemies lies. She reminded me that Jesus prayed for the Father's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, and that as a child of God, I have His Holy Spirit, that part of heaven, in my heart. So while Isaiah 25 is speaking of heaven, I should pray for it now! We are no longer in bondage, but live in freedom! She also reminded me that these things won't happen unless I live in the freedom given by Jesus Christ. Thus, we must press on for that goal and choose to live in His freedom daily.

"Wow," I kept being reminded, "this is our God. We have waited for Him, and He will save us! This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation."