You Erased Everything?!?

“Why is there scripture written all over my walls?  Were did all my quotes go?  What made you think you could erase everything?  I hope I can remember all my quotes.”  (Let’s just say most of the writing on the walls was very inappropriate and I hope he can’t remember them).

This was the beginning of a conversation I had with the co-owner of our hostel.  My heart was pounding, but I wasn’t terrified.  I knew going into this there might be repercussion…that the walls might be erased right away…that people might write profanity over the scripture or twist it somehow.  

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matt 5:11-12

The conversation continued…  “I thought the walls were free for anyone to write on (there was a jar of chalk sitting there).  I figured people could erase it as they please.”   

“Well, yeah.  But I will probably have to take it down eventually.  I mean, I will have to take it down.  I don’t just have Christians staying here.  There are Muslims, Buddhists, non religious people, etc.  I need to make sure everyone is comfortable staying here.”  

The conversation continued to normal talk and he might have been a little irritated but we were okay.  And he looked at the walls.  He read the scriptures.  On the one wall I had written out the “Romans Road to Salvation” so the gospel could share itself.   

He wasn’t the only one who read the walls.  I had started my wonderful creation at 6am.  It took about two and half hours to erase (almost) everything and write up the scripture.  I left the elephants, hand, and turtle.  While I was doing this, I listened to music and worshipped, prayed over the words written and the people who would read it, and let the Spirit flow. 

One of the house keepers came up while I was working on it and was amazed.  We had just had a conversation the other night and she was a Christian.  She was excited to see the finished product and was in awe that I was doing this.    

That’s the cool thing about being in an ATL (Ask the Lord) month…you let the Spirit use you in any way.  It’s also how real life works!  This built upon lessons I learned from last month in Rwanda…words have so much POWER and we can use them for so much good!  

“A person’s words can be life-giving water; words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook.” Proverbs 18:4  

We stayed in a house in Rwanda that had scripture written all over the walls and then was painted.  The words were sealed in.  When you were in those rooms, you could feel God’s presence.  There was something different…something powerful…and that something was God at work!  

The walls stirred up a lot of conversations.  I ended up talking to several other guests.  One guest said to me, “I saw you writing on the walls.  Sometimes people need a good reminder.”  That led to another conversation and I found out his dad was a missionary.  Sometimes we just have to take a risk for the Kingdom and trust that God will use it for his glory.  

I don’t know how long these walls will stay…but you never know the power that a word can have in someone’s life…and maybe, just maybe, someone in that hostel needed to hear one of those scriptures.    

One of my favorite quotes is: “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”