“Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls.”
– Matthew 11:29
This past mission to Honduras, I was blessed with the opportunity to lead. However, God wanted to make sure this stubborn man remembered humility while doing so.
Arriving to the Comayagua airport, I grabbed my luggage like I have done a thousand times before. We had made it all the way to the mission house, when I received a phone call from an unknown number… it was the airport calling me to tell me I picked up the wrong bag (It did look exactly like my bag… except for, perhaps, the woman’s name on it… and the pink ribbon tied to it). Then, I went all the way back to the airport, apologized to the woman with my tail between my legs and we exchanged bags.
Another time during the week, I stepped out of the bed of the truck, slipped, and fell on my rear end into a perfectly placed puddle… just to name a few examples…
Yet, Our Lord also blessed me with the opportunity to receive healing through leadership time and time again this mission. Over the years, I have often forgotten the works of the Lord, giving into doubts and insecurities that I’m not good enough and don’t have what it takes. This mission, He powerfully reminded me once again the strength of my manhood… the confidence that it is Christ who lives in me, His Blood that runs in my veins, His Heart that beats in my heart and burns with Living Fire for others…it is His spirit that goes before me, behind me, and sends me out to the ends of the Earth to proclaim His Good News. He reminded me of the power of living out my spiritual fatherhood… giving completely of myself in service to others… longing for them to come to know the same joy I know in encountering Him in the distressing disguise of the small and the poor… helping them grow into the men and women that He is calling them to be, unafraid and fully alive.
The climax of my mission in the mountains of La Paz was when I was helping lead a men’s program. A torrential downpour forced us away from a soccer field into a small building. The rain pounded harder and harder on the tin roof as my co-leader yelled at the top of his lungs to try and keep the program going. Then, he asked me to get the guitar and lead us in worship. I thought, “No way! How are they going to hear me?” but instead of saying anything, I did what he asked and began to play.
The two songs that came to me in the moment were The Blessing to pray for blessing on these men, these fathers, on their children and their children’s children… and Let it Rain, humbly excepting the reality of the rain and confidently turning it from inconvenience into gift. Then, to my surprise, the men sang with me… a united roar of manly praise that was even louder than the rain. I was overcome with emotion. Who am I, that I should lead these men in worship? Who am I, Lord, that you would use me?
After the mission team returned to the US, I stayed for a few extra days to rest and pray. Thank you, Father, for the gift of true rest for my soul. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.
Do not forget the works of the Lord.
-Nick
Nicholas A. Higgins 