“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” – Proverbs 16:9
How true this is. I experienced the reality of this when a team of us went to a village just west of the capital city to participate in an outreach. Four weeks prior to this event, we prayed daily for the outreach and for the people we would come in contact with.
When the time came for the outreach event – we had a plan in our hearts and were praying for God to direct our steps. We knew no one in the village and had never been there before. We wanted to show a film.
When we arrived, a couple of guys began inviting people to the event but we still had no place to show a film. Then a man invited us to his property to set up and show the film! God provided in an instant. I was blessed by the way God was leading us – we arrived with no place and no contacts, and here we were setting up and talking with those that arrived.
While we were setting up we discovered that we had a significant problem – our equipment was not working. We were thankful though that all the while, there was friendly conversation going on and many people were trying to help us.
We kept trying, but with the same negative results. We decided that since it was already after dark it would be best to pack up and plan on coming another day. Another, more suitable place for showing the film had been mentioned to us and that in itself was another blessing of God’s leading.
The evening, however, was not without opposition. Just as we made the decision to pack up and come another day, a group came onto the property. I thought it was a group arriving for the film, but one man in the group spoke up and began to say that he had a problem with what we were doing. (He was speaking in Georgian, so I had to get this part second hand from our translator.) Mostly our team leader talked with him. I don’t know everything that was said between them, but they were talking back and forth about showing the film. After a while, the group left peacefully. We had been openly welcomed onto the property, and no one else had voiced any problems. They reassured us that they wanted to be with us and to see the film.
Something very positive happened that night—the beginnings of relationships were formed. There was a friendly exchange between the people and our team. And what’s more, they knew we were coming back. They could spread the word around the village better than we ever could!
After we had packed everything back into the vehicles, we lingered and just talked with them. It didn’t matter that it was dark, and late. Something new and different had come to the village, and people were interested. They saw us off when we left, and I chuckled as they even began to clap when we started down the road.
I believe with all my heart that the Lord was directing our steps as we went forward with the plan we had in our hearts.
