I grew up in the church and accepted Jesus into my heart when I was very young. I was so focused on performing the way a good Christian should that I didn’t realize accepting Jesus into my heart wasn’t the final chapter of my story but the beginning of it.
I thought the dreams I dreamed would never come true. I believed that I wasn’t good enough to serve God despite how much I longed to. Because of these lies I told myself, I stopped seeing God’s promises for my life. The Hebrew word for promise “dabhar” means “to speak”. It wasn’t until my YWAM Discipleship Training School (DTS) that I realized God had been speaking to me my whole life and those old dreams were the result of that. I’m still learning what God’s promises are for me, but I’ve learned a few things on the way.
Often times, when God puts something on my heart like a dream or a goal to work towards, it requires obedience, steps of faith, and patience on my part. Sometimes when the end of the year approaches, I get discouraged about all the things I think God wants me to do and how I didn’t get to them or how I failed in them. God doesn’t dangle his promises in front of us like carrots always just out of our reach. Over two years ago, I was on a scouting trip in Southern Africa. Throughout the trip, God gave me so much vision for my life and ministry. Specifically, I felt God was telling me to use my voice more and a practical way to do that would be writing blogs. When I got back from the trip and back into my normal but busy routine, I never managed to really start writing. It wasn’t until July 2016 (of this year) that I began writing for a blog…this blog. It took me two years to walk out something God put on my heart! I realized before I could write with vulnerability and conviction, I needed to grow in the Lord. Sometimes it feels like those small, timid steps of faith we take will never lead anywhere, but they do. Keep taking those steps because with each one you’re getting closer to those promises God has given you.
During my own DTS outreach, I spent almost three months in Cambodia and it changed how I saw the people who have never heard of Jesus. Before my time in Southeast Asia, unreached people were statistics on a page or people groups I occasionally prayed for. I didn’t really have a heart for them. I didn’t realize that the deeper I understood God’s love for me the more capacity I had to share that love with others. My time in Cambodia gave me a place to share God’s love with others from children in local villages to college students. I realized that I could be part of God’s unfolding promises to other people just by looking beyond my Christian bubble and stepping out of my comfort zone. God’s promises aren’t just for me as an individual or just for my church or missions community…they are for everyone. Beyond my safe Christian bubble are people desperate for love, belonging, and change, and when I step outside my comfort zone I can be used by God to put His promises into action.
Jesus is God’s promise made visible to us. Jesus extends an invitation to join him. I sometimes think of God’s Kingdom like an orchestra. Where his people are playing different instruments but together each instrument works together to create beautiful music. We can sit in the audience of that orchestra and listen, but we can also take up an instrument be a part of the music. For most of my Christian life, I sat in the audience. During my DTS, I began to see that God had a special place for me and that when I took that place I could see promises come true not just in my own life but in the lives of others too.