The Switch!
I’ve shared this story before, but it’s one I need to be reminded of often.
It was the morning of our fall kick-off for our horse ministry at the ranch in Mexico. I had spent hours throughout the week preparing and training my new batch of leaders. I had decided, too, that this was the year, the day, the hour that we made the switch.
Our piloted program the year before had focused on our churched kids. Every Saturday morning we sent vans to our church and picked up 20-30 kids to spend the afternoon with us and the horses. This year, we were making the switch. Not that churched kids didn’t need to hear about God’s love, but the clear mission of the ministry was to reach the children in the nearby colonia, Marquez de Leon. To reach those kids in an area of great need who had little to no chance of hearing the Good News.
I woke that morning, anxious. Had we communicated enough with the village families? Had we prepared our leaders sufficiently for the change… will their hearts be open to kids who might not behave or react the same as our children from church? How will the new kids respond to the program? Would they even come? And would they mix well with the kids who came each week? Maybe we’ll start out slow. Keep the kids from church coming and add maybe a handful of kids from the village. Little by little make the change.
My devotion that morning was from Jesus Calling. It said, “Leave outcomes up to Me. Follow Me wherever I lead, without worrying about how it will all turn out.” As I stood watching the vans depart from the ranch, one to the church and one to the village, as my new leaders gathered around with anticipation to pray and wait, as the horses were prepared and readied, those words echoed in my heart… Leave the outcome to Me.
As the van from the church returned twenty minutes later, God said, “Leave the outcome to Me.”
Because He knew. He knew how I would feel when the doors to the van opened and no one came out. No one from the church had come. No one. There was some holiday I had not counted on and none of our usual 20 or 30 kids that made up the ministry, that made it worthwhile for my leaders to give up their free day, got off that van… not a single child.
I could hear the audible gasp of the leaders behind me. I could hear their questions, their perplexity, their disappointment. But I could hear God louder. Leave the outcome to Me.
The second van arrived. The one from the village. And it arrived in grandeur… like the nets in Peter’s fishing boat. The ones he cast out even when it made no sense. Twenty-five kids in a 15-passenger van! (Travel takes on new meaning in Mexico ;). Village kids flooded out and were met by the loving hands of my team and the unconditional love of the horses. We were amazed! Shocked even! But God wasn’t. He had been carrying out His plan all along. I just needed to rest in it! And I stood in awe at our loving God who prepared my heart in gentleness but an hour before.
God's outcome was far greater than I could ever imagine!
Where are you today? Do you question the events going on around you? The trials, the hardships, the unknowns? He knows your heart, your struggle, your prayer. He knows it intimately. And He will meet your need in His time and in His way. Trust in that. Rest in that. And leave the outcome to Him!
I’d love to hear from you! To read your ideas and thoughts. For that reason, if you leave a comment on my blog or Facebook I’ll put your name in a drawing for a free book give away. If you share my blog on your page, I’ll put your name in twice. November’s free book is:
Kim Meeder is the founder of Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch in Oregon-- A ranch of rescued dreams. She and her husband Troy were our inspiration for our own horse ministry in Mexico. Their ranch pairs broken kids with rescued horses. Blind Hope is a true story about a young woman who reaches out to save a dog in need, and soon realizes that the dog was rescuing her.
