I Was on the Inside

Today I get to share a guest blog by a friend of mine. I can’t share her name with you but I'll call her Chica. I can't even share where she calls home, other than it's in northern Africa. However, her heart for the Lord, her desire to grow spiritually, and her perspective on life make her one of my favorite people in the world. She sent the following to me via email; once I read it, I had to get her permission to share it with all of you. May you be as blessed by her experience as I was…

I needed to see a doctor, so I went to a new non-profit hospital. After the main road, we turned onto a hard dirt path that forked and weaved in-between sparsely situated homes and buildings. It seemed we were in the middle of nowhere, but then the low wall of the hospital appeared.

Behind the wall was the large sandy courtyard where a throng of people had waited since dawn in hopes the healer would see them. On the other side of the courtyard, another wall, much taller than the first, separated everyone from the entrance gate to the hospital.

After my appointment, where wisdom and skill shined way beyond the rudimentary resources available, I went to pay my fee. That's when a realization struck me – stopped me.

I was on the inside.

Just meters in front of me people filled the entrance gate, grabbing, smashing themselves up to it, clamoring to be seen. It was loud; it was desperate. A male nurse had a stack of papers; he was calling out names, “Mahmood? Mahmood?” When Mahmood squeezed his way through, another male nurse pulled out a set of keys, unlocked the gate, and allowed him a small opening through which to enter. Then the crowd swelled back in close again.

I felt myself stop all thoughts. Our days here have not been easy. It's hard living here. Too many interactions with others seem to involve deceitful motives.

But I saw it. Our Father is calling out to those from the utter ends of the earth. They will hear His voice and will come and be healed. Restored. Atoned for. The renown of His name will be throughout the earth.

I was able to close my eyes for a moment and ask, “Okay, show me. Show me who you are calling.”

Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you. Thank you, Father, for showing me that you are our Hope.

“The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10: 3-4, 9).

Are you, like my friend and myself, “on the inside?” We're in; we’ve seen the Doctor who gives spiritual rather than physical healing. He restored us; He atoned for our sins.

Let's work together to see who else God is calling through the gate. Pray, as my friend did, for God to show you who He is calling. I then challenge you to reach out to the person He lays on your heart. Maybe you'll be the one to help them come in and see the Master Healer who gives new spiritual life!

“I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints” (Psalm 52:9).