my heart is quite overwhelmed right now. please stay with me as I try to maneuver through all my thoughts and try to make this blog as orderly as possible.
I guess the first place to start is by simply stating the obvious- God is GOOD. I am afraid that we sometimes take this statement too lightly. He is GOOD. All the time. His goodness can never change. It stays the same. That means during our times of growth and our times of struggle. He is good, oh so good.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! (Psalm 34:8)
God keeps showing His goodness in my life- through my friendships, my passions, my struggles. How freeing it is to see His goodness in everything. Let us thank Him for His goodness together!
One way the Lord has revealed to me His goodness was through the time I had at CAMP. Man oh man, such a sweet time my last camp at Shades was! I was given the blessing of being able to go on early crew to help set up and this allowed me to see the other side of camp. Trust me when I say this- many, many, MANY long and hard hours go into getting camp prepared. Everything from binders, to snacks, to sound, to videos... Shades youth staff literally puts their heart ,and sweat, into everything. Not even to mention all the prayers that went into it!
To my beloved youth ministers- THANK YOU for your time and efforts that went into getting everything ready for camp. The Lord definitely blessed our time together and I pray it was fulfilling to see the fruit of your labor! I am thankful to have spent these last four years under such loving and giving authority.
If I could sum up what I learned from camp in one word it would be this- HONESTY. The Lord showed me through worship and through certain conversations I had just how vital honesty is to living a Christ honoring life.
Honesty in SIN- As Christ followers, it is easy for us to keep certain sins hidden in the depths of our hearts. We fall into the trap of believing if we just keep it secret, then all is dandy and we continue on. Cause no one can visibly see it, right? So why should I expose this sin to others and let them see that I don't have everything together? There are a few things wrong about our mindset-
First off- Sin is visible to God. No matter how hard we try to hide it, He searches our hearts and knows what we really look like. "I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds" (Jeremiah 17:10).
Second off- Satan wants us to stay in the darkness. He wants to isolate us and make us feel defeated. He is so afraid that if we expose light on our sin, that we will overcome it through Christ and grow stronger in Him. This is the last thing he wants us to do. The bible is really clear of Satan's intentions for our lives- to steal, to kill, and to DESTROY. BUT, Christ came to give us life and life to the fullest (John 10:10). I would encourage us to examine our hearts and to see if there is any hidden sin that we are holding on to. When the answer is yes, don't hold on it anymore! "Take NO part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them" (Ephesians 5:11).
One way of exposing our sins is by confessing them to one another. "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed" (James 5:16). At camp, we were given the opportunity to do this very thing. It was a humbling thing to confess one another sins, but boy did healing come! The second part of this verse is just as crucial as the first- PRAY. Praying over a fellow brother or sister in Christ and interceding on their behalf in front of the Father brings healing for both sides. Don't keep your heart hidden in the shadows... expose the light, expose the TRUTH and be healed.
Another way I have seen the goodness of the Lord is through His preparation of my heart. Looking back, the thought of leaving my family, my friends, my Shades absolutely terrified me. Why would I want to leave these precious things in my life? How thankful I am that through this year, He has prepared my heart to leave. And prepared I am.
I wasn't really sure just how prepared I really was until a certain conversation I had tonight with my sweet friend Lauren. Lauren called me tonight to talk about a few things that have been on her heart lately and she shared with me how the Lord has revealed to her how He wants her to be spending her time at Bama. (If you want to know the full story, ask Lauren about it- I don't want to take away her joy of sharing!) Basically we came to this conclusion- that the Lord is calling each of us out to our own ministries. Whether it's at Bama or elsewhere, this is the reason we are leaving. To fulfill the call of our lives, for the sake of the Gospel. For the sake of Jesus Christ. All He wants from us is OBEDIENCE.
So, I will go. I will go with a joyful heart, knowing that the Lord is calling me to a greater task. When realizing this, all my fears and anxieties about leaving where gone and was replaced with joy and expectations for the Lord to do great things in these next four years.
"And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).
Thankfully, I am not alone. Lauren and I also talked about the importance of accountability in our lives in order to fully grow in Christ. We both agreed to being accountability partners for each other during this next stage of life. We agreed to being completely HONEST and to call each other out on certain things, in order that we may gain Christ.
I told you- God is GOOD. And good He is.
Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. (Ephesians 5:14)
Let no one caught in sin remain inside the lie of inward shame. We fix our eyes upon the cross and run to Him who showed great love and bled for us. Freely You've bled for us. Christ is risen from the dead, tramping over death by death. Come awake, come awake! Come and rise up from the grave. O death, where is your sting? O hell, where is your victory? O church, come stand in the LIGHT. The glory of God has defeated the night!
bless
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