“Now glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”
-Ephesians 3:20

I prayed over this verse months before our trip to Honduras. I prayed we would have life-changing encounters, and that we would see and feel the impact we were making clearly.

My team and I learned three things pretty quickly: God’s plans are greater than our own; He works in opposite ways than you would expect and we shouldn’t have to see or feel something clearly to validate God’s work.

For months, we planned to bring the most fun activities, the most engaging small group talks, the most impacting time for the kids to places that we had never even set foot in.

We tried to anticipate and predict the future and bring the “best” of everything to our standards. This ended up leaving us stressed out and not resting in the Lord’s peace or plans. We realized we had to make room for God’s best in the plans, which is so much greater than our best.

We realized God works opposite of what is expected of him in every single situation. In John 2, Jesus was expected to buy more wine for a wedding and instead he made wine out of water. We went into Honduras expecting to love the kids and families and instead, they welcomed us so incredibly and showed us such a great love. We expected to visibly see huge flowers blossom in the lives of those in Honduras and instead we planted seeds and grew them slowly.

This trip made me realize that seeds and growth are just as important as the blossoming. That the Lord works in ways that are only on his level of understanding and that something that seems small to us, really is just infinitely more than we can try to think.

This week was about genuine love to incredible kids, families and to God. It was about serving the Kingdom confidently and helping his people. God so clearly showed us that this is what matters the most.

Siani Null traveled to Honduras this summer with Northway Church. She will be a freshman at Liberty University in the fall.