A Blessing in Disguise

With God all things are possible. (Luke 1:37)

What people intend for evil, God can use for good. (Gen. 50:20)

I hate the location of my house in Antigua. Antigua is not a real safe place at night anyway, but the area around my house is the worst. It’s on the outskirts of town so far out it doesn’t even have its own cobblestone street like everywhere else. I have thought about moving several times but keep staying for various reasons, mainly out of love for my family here. But I still hate the location.

Because of my neighborhood, I absolutely must have people walk me home at night. It is not an option. Even the guys who walk me home notice a difference in the area, and they don’t like it either. Living like this has done a number on my independence. I must always be with people when I leave the house at night. And I must always find someone to walk back with. I can’t go out whenever I want and return whenever I want. If I get tired and want to come home, I can’t. I have to wait until others are ready to walk me back. It forces me to be patient and agreeable. I am grateful that to date, God has always provided someone to walk me back in safety.

A real blessing in this is the conversations that occur on those long walks home. The other night, I got to share the Gospel with the guy accompanying me! We had talked about religious things before, and he thought he knew what Christians believed, but I told him that wasn’t quite right, and so he wanted to know what exactly I believed. Like most people, he thought Christians think that good people go to Heaven and bad people don’t. I cleared up the fact that that is not the case. People who accept Christ’s forgiveness go to Heaven, and those who don’t don’t. When we got to my door, I said thanks and bid him goodnight, and he said he wanted to continue the conversation sometime. He was genuinely interested. Praise the Lord! Without that long walk home and my need to have him accompany me, we wouldn’t have had that conversation.

God knows what He is doing. He knows how to bring glory to Himself. He knows how to reach people. My comfort is not the most important thing. I have given myself to the Lord and told Him He can use me however He wants, and if He wants to use long walks in the dark, scary streets of Antigua, then I will be obedient to make the most of every opportunity. (Eph. 5:15-16)