Barbed Wire Blessings

As soon as I found out that we could ride in the back of the truck all the way to Yankea, I knew it was going to be a great day. The Nicaragua experience is just not complete without a nice bumpy back-of-the-truck ride over the rugged mountainsides.

Our task for the day: build a goat pen. A similar concept to Heifer project international, Hope for Life exists in Nicaragua to use sustainable living techniques to introduce people to the church and ultimately to Jesus. We were a part of the team that helped bring this project to Yankea, a rural community.

The day before, some members of our group dug holes and set posts, so our job was to string the barbed wire around the entire fence. Simple enough? Yes. Did we have fun doing it? Absolutely. Did we sing and joke the whole time? You bet. But did we get a lot accomplished? No, not really.

We worked hard all day in the hot sun, but by 4:00 when it was time to leave, we stepped back and realized it had taken us all day long to string barbed wire around a goat pen that was maybe the size of half-court. And we only had to do three of the sides. 

Because I am such a goal-oriented person, I sighed and thought to myself, that's it? Hours of labor and all we have to show for it is 60 feet of barbed wire fencing? It sure didn't seem like much in the grand scheme of things.

But then I remember how "Nicaragua time" works. It is slow going, but it is also not about how much you get done in a day. Work can always be done later. What really matters are the people you love along the way. And I must say, although that barbed wire fence may have only been 60 feet long, it had a lot of love in it. 

Because of the love put into that barbed wire fence, there will one day soon be goats living in it. Those goats will go to a family as a gift from the church, the gospel will the shared, and the rest will be history. When your fingers are bleeding from the repetitive hanging and nailing of barbed wire, you have to remember the bigger picture. In the same way that the tilling of soil and the planting of seeds brings forth the fruit of the harvest, so the nailing of barbed wire brings forth goats and the gospel. 

As I stood there at the end of the day, staring at our barbed wire fence, I realized that maybe we accomplished more than I thought we did. Maybe it is more about love than I thought it was. 

And in that moment, God whispered something directly to my hungry, searching heart. I came to Nicaragua in need of an encouraging word from the Lord regarding nursing school, as I get easily wearied and burdened with the tasks that I see as so meaningless. 

So often I wonder. Why am I writing papers when I want to be doing missions on the field? Why am I staying up until 2:00 AM to finish paperwork when I could be using my energy to share the gospel? Why do I spend so much time fretting about exams and assignments when I the only thing my heart really aches for are needs of the nations of the world? 

Then God reminded me. Just like stringing barbed wire, doing nursing school is a small part of the greater picture. Doing assignments and clinicals and projects and exams are all paving a way for the work God has prepared in advance for me to do. Sometimes my fingers bleed as I tediously try to do the tasks in front of me, and sometimes I step back and feel as though I have accomplished hardly anything at all. But then, I think about the promise God has made. He has called me to nursing school so that I can be a nurse that brings healing in the name of Jesus Christ, and He promises to lead me every step as I keep my eyes on Him.

Although now we see only in part, we trust confidently that God sees in full. We till the soil and plant the seeds knowing that it is God alone who makes it grow. We string the barbed wire, believing that God is keeping His promises to never leave us and to carry us in to the future He has orchestrated for His glory.

Even when our work seems meaningless, there is purpose in the project. Even when our tasks seems small and insignificant, it is love that makes the biggest difference in the world. And even when it pricks and bleeds, there is blessing in the barbed wire.