9 March 2008

Post #38:  Walk

As Prime Minister Gonzi celebrates his victory on this cool, cloudy day in Malta, we count another day passed on our three-month stay, and celebrate another safe day on the island. We made it to church on time, which is always a bit of a miracle in itself. We attended, again, the Bible Baptist Church which is down and then back up the hill from here. The geography of Malta is extremely hilly, in case you haven't noticed.

Today's sermon was again wonderful, in that it reminded us of how the church ought to be. Speaking on Luke 24:13-14, Pastor Joe gave some excellent insight regarding the two disciples on their walk on the road to Emmaus. In his summary, he reminded us that once these two disciples realized the risen Jesus had walked with them, they raced back to the other disciples to tell them how they'd experienced an encounter with the resurrected Christ, (this was the day they found Jesus' tomb empty), and the other disciples were just as excited, because they, too, had witnessed His presence that day. This is a beautiful picture of His church (people)sharing encounters with the Living Savior, as they walk with Him, day by day, and moment by moment.

On that note, I'll tell you that I had another night off, last night. I went to the 24-7 Prayer Room, which doesn't actually run 24-7-365, but it's open on Saturday nights, and when they can get a team going, they do run stretches of 24-7 prayer. This is a phenomenon that is spreading around the world. I believe it began in Germany. See the website: http://www.24-7prayer.com/

Eve, the young woman I met at a park a couple weeks ago, opens the door for the prayer room, and I've been enjoying going there on Saturday nights. It's just a little room in a building, which has been transformed into a church, near the main bus terminus at Valletta. Both times, through the music, and through reading from the Word of God, I've felt the presence of this risen Jesus. The first time I went, I was in tears with gratitude for how close the Lord has been these days in Malta; how He has brought so many amazing people into our lives, and blessed us with safety and every spiritual blessing. God is good.

The other day, as I was trying to encourage Tara, a thought came to my mind that had to be a divine thought, because it was far too wise and brilliant to have come from me! I said to her, “In life, I think God gives us water stops, like in a marathon. And I've learned that you have to walk through the water stops. If you don't slow down, and walk once in awhile, you end up running out of gas, and you can't finish the race.” I used to think I'd lose too much time, in races, if I slowed down for those water breaks, but after a few races, I realized the people who stopped and walked, and enjoyed the drink offered, would be passing me by a few miles later. Now, I know better than to run through them or skip them altogether. Now, I always walk through the water stops, and it refreshes me, and gives me strength for the next part of the race.

In the same way, we all need to slow down, even stop, once in awhile, and allow God to refresh our spirit. I hope while being in Malta, we can be like a water stop for Tara. Perhaps we can bring her encouragement and feed her spirit, and we hope she'll take advantage of this time we have to offer her. Paul needed Barnabas, to keep him encouraged. We all need a Barnabas in our lives. Hope we can be an encouragement to all we've encountered here in Malta. Likewise, in some ways, for us, this time in Malta has been one big water station. We've slowed our pace down a great deal while here, and we hope we'll find ourselves plenty refreshed for our return to our real lives in Wisconsin.

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