The long drive across the country from Washington to Florida
was full of many crazy adventures and memories, but one in particular really
showed me how amazing God is—how nothing is out of His hands.
Driving through Paducah, Kentucky, we pulled the U-Haul over
and saw that we had blown a tire on the tow dolly. After talking with the
people at U-Haul, we were told we would have to wait a few hours for them to
replace it. We had planned to spend that evening in Nashville which I was
really excited about, but realizing that was no longer going to be a
possibility, we changed our plans for the night and headed to downtown Paducah
to find something to eat.
The Ohio River runs through Kentucky, and as we were driving
by, Geoff Chase convinced us that he had to jump in. So, we pulled over and he
did just that. There were locals there that told us (as I had suspected) that
nobody there would ever jump in that river because of how polluted it is and of
course—the WATER MOCASSINS!!! But, Geoff lived, and as we were talking with
some local people, we met Silas and Katie.
Silas and Katie were a teenage couple from Paducah. Of
course, being on a mission from God to drive across the country is not
something that people are used to hearing. As they asked us more and more
questions about what we were doing and why, God opened the door for us to not
only share about us and what WE were doing, but to share the good news of
Jesus! We asked them questions, and they asked us questions, and it was amazing
to see them start to understand more about who God is and what He has done for
them. At the end of our conversation, they said that they wished we were
starting a church in Paducah because they would actually go. They had never
heard grace like the gospel proclaims before--only a lot of legalism. They
didn’t pray with us to accept Christ right then, but we were so blessed to have
had the opportunity to share with them. We prayed for them at the end of our
conversation right there on the street. We left them with our contact
information and even had one of my old Fletcher CDs in the van to give them!
(that one was Geoff’s idea :)
As we left, I wondered about them and whether we should have
gone farther in our conversation. I hadn’t felt led to ask them to make a
decision to follow Jesus at the time, but I still hoped we hadn’t missed an
opportunity that God had meant for us…
The next morning, the Lord gave me a vision while we where
all praying for the day. I saw a big screw being hammered into the hard ground.
But because it was a screw, it wouldn’t go into the ground completely with the hammer
pounding it. Instead, it just made a dent in the ground. Then, the hammer was gone,
and the screw began to twist by itself, and twisted completely into the ground
on its own.
My good friend, Noah who was traveling with me, had the
interpretation for this vision after I told the guys what I saw and asked God
to interpret it for us. The interpretation resonated with me and confirmed what
I really believed it to mean in my heart as well. Here is the interpretation:
The screw is the Word of God, and the ground is Silas and Katie’s heart. As we
had the chance to share the Gospel with them, we were like the hammer—beginning
to touch their hearts with the truth, but not seeing them fully accept and
embrace it. When we left, God was going to complete His work in their hearts,
and the Word we planted would come into their hearts!
We were so excited! God is so amazing. He knew exactly where
we would be that day, and where Silas and Katie would be. More importantly, he
used us to share His incredible love, grace and gospel with them. We haven’t
heard from Silas and Katie yet, but we are praying for them often and believe
that God is at work in them and my vision will come to pass in their lives.
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