Narrow the Road
This is a story about how I met my friend, Lav. She is a mother, a wife, a grandmother and my newest treasured friend. We spent a lot of time together in that little village of Cambodia–swapping life stories, weaving bamboo mats and bundling fresh veggies from her garden. One afternoon, while sharing deep heartaches from her past, Lav stopped mid-sentence and said, “You know, I have never told anyone any of this… for some reason I just… trust you. Ever since you came to me, I have felt lighter… like a heavy burden is slowly being lifted.”
Lav and I spent most of our time talking about Jesus. She liked Him a whole lot, but much like the rest of the village, was trapped in a messy tangle of fears. Was she still allowed to go to the Pagoda and burn incense in honor of her ancestors? What would her ancestors eat if she couldn’t leave them offerings? Was she allowed to cry when someone passes away? What if her husband gets angry and comes home drunk and hurts her again? Instead of trying to give her an answer fabricated from my own shallow knowledge, I asked God every day to reveal Himself to her in an intimate, personal way.
The last day in the village, I just felt deep in my heart that we had to go back to visit Lav one more time. Walking past the rice fields (avoiding eye contact with the water buffalos) I just kept praying over and over “God, please speak to her. Show her you are real. Call her to You. Let today be the day she comes home.” Sure enough, Lav was overjoyed to see me. Normally wary to show much emotion, her face could hardly mask the joy that was fighting to the surface. I knew in that moment, God had answered my prayers
That day, Lav told me, “I used to have dreams about snakes. They were vivid, terrible dreams that made me wake up in a cold sweat. Then the next day, terrible things would happen. These dreams happened all the time. I had honestly grown to expect them. But then… I met you. You brought such a peace with you. You made me feel like everything was going to be okay. I used to cry all the time, but since meeting you, I just feel… happy.”
I was overjoyed to hear this good news and was able to rejoice with her that it wasn’t me– but it was Jesus that was giving her peace. I was able to explain to her that I was only the messenger and that I brought peace because Jesus was with me. This brought tears to her eyes as she interrupted me because she hadn’t even gotten to the best part of her story
“After meeting you and Jesus, the dreams stopped. Then, last night, I had another dream about a snake, but this time the snake was running away!! It was leaving my home and a rush of peace flooded my body! And today, instead of bad things happening, my day has been filled with many small blessings and I don’t feel like crying anymore.”
At this point I was straight up crying. I couldn’t believe how God had answered my prayers! My translator, Andet, could barely even translate because He was so overwhelmed by the power of our God! I then explained to Lav that the snake symbolized Satan fleeing because Jesus was in her heart now! And where light is, darkness cannot hide! While I was trying to pull myself together and wrap my head around how God was moving, Lav started drawing two lines in the sand
“After the snake, I had another dream. I was on a narrow path,” she explained while pulling her fingers through the sand, “and there was a bright light at the end of it, calling me towards it. There were two wide paths on either side, full of people, but on my narrow path, it was just me and God.”
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14
Okay. Holy moly. At this point I could hardly contain myself– I was bursting from the inside out!! With joyful tears, Lav and I clasped hands as we prayed together, invited Jesus into her heart. Lav was forever transformed that day… and honestly, so was I.
Lav’s daughter ended up coming to Christ that day too. All the angels are rejoicing over such a sweet victory. We spent the whole rest of the afternoon cross-legged on that wooden platform, fitting her with reading glasses (I just couldn’t tell her to take off the tag– it was just so cute!), teaching her how to study her new bible, and how to share her faith. I will remember her forever, and can’t wait to hug her tight in heaven someday soon.