I went to Honduras and I came back.
Ive been home for a few weeks and I haven’t really talked about it yet.
I went through something there that I had to deal with and I think I have.
The first week was great. I visited coffee farms that were producing top notch coffees on the worlds scale. I tasted the cherries right off the tree and they were sweet and sugary. It was elegant. I crave that sweetness now and there is no way to have it. Its there on that mountain and in that climate, with those people in that time locked there and far away from me. I remember it with a smile.
The second week was different and it bent me and twisted me and I am straightening out now. I met the families of Linares and I broke. Linares is in the poorest part of an already very poor country. Its forgotten and neglected by local and national authorities. It was once inhabited by villainy. Its dark without electricity and its bare of good strong working men. The family structure is broken. The girls are pregnant at 14 and the men leave looking for work never to return. If there was a desperate place it was Linares. Worst of all there are children. The village of 70 houses 30 children. That is not a proper ratio for developement. I met 6 men.
The first day in Linares we didn’t stay long. We arrived… shook some hands and left early. I left mad. I left heartbroken. I left with no trust in my God. I saw no good there. I felt pitty for the people and I slept in it. I felt like old wine, sour and unwanted. Discouraged. We woke up the next morning and I jumped in the truck to head back to the village. I put in my headphones and pressed play on Hillsong Uniteds “Take Heart”. God worked.
[Verse 1:]
There is a light
It burns brighter than the sun
He steals the night
And casts no shadow
There is hope
Should oceans rise and mountains fall
He never fails
[Chorus:]
So take heart
Let His love lead us through the night
Hold on to hope
And take courage again
[Verse 2:]
In death by love
The fallen world was overcome
He wears the scars of our freedom
In His Name
All our fears are swept away
He never fails
[Bridge:]
All our troubles
And all our tears
God our hope
He has overcome
All our failure
And all our fear
God our love
He has overcome
All our heartache
And all our pain
God our healer
He has overcome
All our burdens
And all our shame
God our freedom
He has overcome
All our troubles
And all our tears
God our hope
He has overcome
All our failures
And all our fear
God our love
He has overcome
God our justice
God our grace
God our freedom
He has overcome
God our refuge
God our strength
God is with us
He has overcome
I didn’t know it but God had already overcome their adversity. He was so much bigger than even their poverty. He was so much bigger than their broke family structure. He was so much stronger than any working man. He overshadowed their mountains and their clouds. He saw inside their eyes and had healed them.
I walked into the village with a new head on my shoulders that day and I found a village full of people trusting God with their nothing. Giving every bit of the desperation over to Him. It wasn’t this village that was in the midst of turmoil, it was me. It was my trust in Gods ability to provide that was shaken not theirs. It was my lack of faith that was stirring up emotion in me not God. He was quietly whispering that I was safe and so were they. Im so thankful for them. Im so thankful for Gods love and his ability to take the burdens, shame, failures, troubles, tears, heartache and pain and turn them into hope. Take heart… his love leads us through the night. Hold onto hope and take courage again.
Faith.
I love you Jesus. Its all I can do to raise my hands. Thank you for taking me all the way to Linares to remind me of how huge you are. Thank you for being so correct and perfect on your promises. Im sorry I don’t see it. Im so small. Thank you for renewing the courage. You are everything and I just can’t remember that, but I want to. Thank you.
Jacob.
