Butterfly Chronicles: Divine Delays

On our Stove Project trip to Guatemala, the butterflies were everywhere.  Several times, repeat visitors commented that they had never seen so many butterflies there – ever!  In trying to process the trip and discover the hierarchy of all the lessons God taught me, one keeps rising to the top.

Delay.  In the grocery line, at the doctor’s office, in traffic, at the car wash, at the bank.  Delay.  It’s as sure as death and taxes.

Delay.  Sometimes, it frustrates us.  But, I’ve worked really hard to re-attitude about it and wonder what God might be doing IN the delay.  This is the lesson from Guatemala.  Delay is often DIVINE.

It was our last day, and we were running errands – picking up freshly ground coffee from one villager and hand woven baskets from another.  While visiting with the basket maker and her family, an elderly woman came up and asked me for help.  I grabbed a translator and several of us followed this woman to her home where we met her daughter and her three grandchildren ages 7 mos, 2 years, and 10 years.  The 10 year old was sick – burning with fever, red-eyed, her tonsils almost touching and covered with puss. 

Delay.  I ran back to the bus to find the Stove Project's medicine woman.  Most of our group had already boarded and were waiting on us. Delay. They were delayed, and they didn’t know why.

For the sick 10 year old, our medicine lady did some doctoring and loving and then praying.  The prayer is what did it.  It’s the lesson. It’s not exactly verbatim, but here’s what was said to this sick little girl in prayer:

Jesus sees you.  He saw you and he saw that you were sick.  We didn’t know we were supposed to be here with you, but He did.  He sent us here - to you - because He loves you.  He sees you.  

There’s so much more to this story – the fact that the grandmother who has NOTHING – wanted to pay us, and the fact that there is so little we can do in terms of help for these people, but God showed up, shows up, and will always keep on showing up. His economy for us and His love for us is never wanting.  He shows up.

All those Stove Project peeps were waiting on us, delayed on the bus, delayed so God could show up and minister to a young girl in need in the middle of a mountain village in Guatemala. I was blessed to be part of what was delaying them and to watch God show up in our medicine woman and in our translator / prayer warrior.  In those moments, God was showing up for me too, teaching me and loving me and growing me. And that’s the lesson isn’t it?  Delay is DIVINE.  Sometimes I’m the one delayed, and I have no idea why or what God might be doing for someone in that delay. I’m just going to say thank you when the delays come because HE IS SHOWING UP SOMEWAY, SOMEHOW FOR SOMEONE! Sometimes He even uses us IN His delays, and that is truly divine! 

God is working all things together for good for those who love Him.  In our comings and goings and in our delays…God is working.  

 NOTE:  The sick little girl is in the first photo wearing the pink shoes.  The other photos show some of the other people we met - all of whom I want to go back and visit if God allows me to.