Discouragement to Divine Appointment
By Hannah Lewandowski
As a broken person ministering to a lost and broken world and people, it is hard, most definitely not for the faint of heart. But, personally knowing the one who sets people free, who has broken my chains and given me a new identity, makes it easier. Knowing the God that is for me and sharing that God with others is so worthwhile. The pain, the hurt, the strenuous hours spent on campus in the 90-degree heat after being rejected 5 times in a row is incredibly difficult. Our God promises the harvest is plentiful, our God promises that the feet of those who carry the good news will be blessed, so what more do we need to know to go, to be sent?
After that pep talk between me and the Lord, I found myself back on campus four days into the Week of Welcome at Washington State University. Despite feeling discouraged by the lack of team members I had, or minimal success in meeting women who even cared the slightest bit about Jesus and life-changing community, I showed up to face another day in the harvest. I am not the righteous person doing the good thing; rather, I showed up because I can’t help but faithfully obey the God I love, the God who saved me.
I had low hopes for this day. I’ll be honest, my attitude was poor. Confessing this to a dear friend and repenting of my disbelief, we prayed that I would meet one girl who was in my missional focus of freshmen, loved Jesus, and wanted to be in community. And no, there’s no such thing as too oddly specific a prayer request. God wants to hear what's on your heart, and He wants you to ask and believe that He can and will provide.
And no, there’s no such thing as too oddly specific a prayer request. God wants to hear what's on your heart, and He wants you to ask and believe that He can and will provide.
Following this brutally honest confession and prayer, I spent the next couple of hours in a dining hall on the north side of campus and managed to get a couple of girls’ numbers after playing a card game and sharing with them the community I had found through Resonate. They were mildly interested, but not exactly what I prayed for. Remaining in hopeful expectation of God to move, I ventured back to the student union building, the very place I had prayed to meet a girl in my missional focus who loved Jesus.
Sitting down with a few friends, we began to set up a game of Uno. I got up to go find some people to invite to join our game and spotted this girl who had just sat down by herself. Approaching her, I asked if she wanted to play Uno with me, to which she replied, “I’d love to! I love Uno! That’s my favorite game!”. Stunned by her enthusiasm, I introduced myself and brought her over to our table.
“Remaining in hopeful expectation of God to move, I ventured back to the student union building, the very place I had prayed to meet a girl in my missional focus who loved Jesus. ”
Not even two minutes later, she shared that she lived in the exact dorm where I would be leading a village this school year, and casually mentioned that she loved Jesus and was looking for a community that shared her faith. Stunned, I looked her in the eyes and said, “This might sound crazy, but this morning I prayed that I would meet someone in that dorm who not only loves Jesus personally, but is looking for a community of believers who do too. You, my friend, are an answer to my prayers”. She responded in awe of God at work and began to feel a sense of belonging as she watched God’s pursuit of her unfold before her very eyes.
Don’t be afraid of specific prayers. Don’t be afraid to make your requests known to the Lord. Don’t be scared to confess your doubt if God truly is the Lord of the plentiful harvest (Luke 10:2). Don’t let discouragement stop you from being faithful, from obeying the one true living God. Who else is worthy?
