Faith

I was just reading (and rereading) an Ann Voskamp blog post recently about her visit to Uganda to meet her sponsored Compassion child, Anna. Ann writes about meeting Anna and about interacting with the beauty of Uganda. And there is a moment where the sweet child Anna makes a startling statement of faith, a statement of belief beautifully devoid of pretense or fear or doubt. 

I show Anna the photo of her and the goat under this exact tree and how it's been on our fridge for years, and when I turn it over, there is one cheerio stuck to the duct tape on the back. I pick the one stuck cheerio off the back of the photo. 

I'm shaking my head, awed, us sitting here in Uganda at True Love Baptist with the little girl we sponsored on Valentine's Day in 2008 and I choke it out, "Did you ever think that we would be sitting here under your tree with your goat photo?" I roll the years old cheerio in my hand.

"Yes. Yes, I did." Anna nods.

"Wait - you did think this would happen? You're not surprised at all that we're here? So we're the only ones surprised we are here?" I ask her wide-eyed, half-laughing, half-stunned.

Anna smooths out her white dress.

"I knew that you would come." She whispers calm. Her eyes find mine -

"I always knew that you would come."

and I cry every time I read it and I cry every time I think about it. can you just imagine? because this is faith, this is belief, this Africa faith. This "I always knew you would come."
a passionate calm. an "I knew it because I know my God. and He is good."

I read that kind of faith again in Isaiah. in the 25th chapter, the 9th verse. it is written, "It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us." 

oh, behold. this is our God. 

we know Him. we have waited for Him. here he is! 

we always knew He would come!