God has been revealing himself to me on this trip by proving his goodness through our ministry hosts, creating an open place to share his love with the teenage girls in our ministry and daily showing his love to me through my new World Race family, but he hasn’t stopped there. Just yesterday I had the incredible opportunity to hike, climb and (eventually) summit a volcano here in Quito. The whole time I was thinking just how crazy it was for me to be apart of such an adventure and that I had to keep going to reach the top no matter how hard it was or out of shape I am. It wasn’t until I reached the top that I truly felt incredibly small and yet so blessed. It was an accomplishment of reaching an elevation I never knew I had in me… and yet he is calling me to even greater heights.
On one of the first nights here in Ecuador I asked Papa to see his face. My prayer was actually more like a dare for him to literally hit me with his presence. (WARNING: If you ever dare God prepare yourself, because he is going to follow through!) The very next night I was hit so hard that I have yet to come back down. I have encountered his Spirit and have been put straight to work. I ripped out deep roots of doubt, anger, independence and other things that have been blocking intimacy with him. I finally walked with him to the dark places hiding in my heart. And let me tell you, his light shines so bright it is overwhelming. The best part is knowing that he’s not even close to being done with his work in and through me!
I want to ask you, how is he calling you higher?
Ultimately, it’s about being so close to him that you feel nothing else and seek nothing else. That you not only experience intimacy with him, but you live it. It’s about transforming to his likeness and rising up to become the person he is calling you to be by allowing him to have his way with you. The next question is what things is he calling you out on? What work do you need to do to become more like him? Is it to take back control of your heart, to surrender the things that you love more than him, to become fully and undoubtedly dependent on his goodness, to simply trust in his promises, or to take a leap of faith that might look a little crazy to those around you?
For me… the call is to serve those around me in his name, to have a vulnerably that shows his heart, and to have a confidence in knowing who I am in him. He doesn’t want me to settle with striving to summit the mountain of life. He wants an eternal relationship that daily grows stronger so that I might shine his love and pure joy on those around me.
“For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time – to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 1:9 (NLT)
