Malolos Municipal Hall. Day Eight. 14.8601, 120.8095

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I traveled unto Calumpit, the final gate before the province of Pampanga, only to find the town market nearly deserted. I lost the afternoon light going here, the sun was setting, and I was uncertain of where to turn. 

I petitioned the LORD to lead me, and He brought me before this great park where the people moved in droves. Though I sought permission to enter, the authorities forbade my intentions inside the grounds—even while loud music and amplified voices of students rehearsing their play filled the air. I was pointed to the street, and there, before the Municipal Hall, I took my post. With the vendors as my congregation and the joggers passing as a moving stream, I was assisted by the Spirit to lift my voice and lift up Christ. The world offered its usual indifference, yet I know there were listeners amongst the shadows. The evening meant my meager bodycam could capture no image of the scene, but it was enough for me that the Master of the Harvest saw the labor. I pleaded for an hour.

On my way home I mused over how my day ended. To ride so far only to find a deserted market would normally be a trial of patience, yet the long ride was merely the preamble to the park. There is a sharp irony in being silenced by authorities in a public space while the loud music of students is permitted; it is the age-old preference of the world for the noise of vanity over the voice of truth. I had no qualms when the day’s events did not follow the course I had charted. For I have learned early on, that the plan is His, and not my own. Though I may spread my maps and calculate my hours, it is the Lord who directs my steps, and His geography is always more perfect than my own.

I have ceased to rely on my own sight to find the crowd, learning instead to rely solely upon His leading. Whether the road brings me to a deserted market or a teeming park, I know that I shall always end exactly where I am supposed to be. There is a profound liberty in this surrender; it frees the herald from the burden of success and leaves him only with the duty of faithfulness. If I take a stand upon a place it is because there is a soul on that pavement that needed the Word more than the many in the square. I am but a passenger on the Lord’s errand.

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