The Bible is full of things physically happening to express something spiritually happening. I believe this continues to happen today. My first experience with this was the evening I decided to follow Jesus completely. I was 14 and in Panama City Beach, Florida with my youth group. Before this point I was trying to find life, love and purpose but could never find anything in the world to satisfy. While at camp with my youth group, Jesus showed me it was him I was searching. He filled my life with so much joy, love, peace, acceptance and pleasure. That evening when I encountered the Lord in a personal way I was standing on the beach after session with my feet in the water. My friend, Millie, came up to me unaware of what had just happened and unaware of my feelings of shame and guilt invading my mind telling me I was unworthy of God’s forgiveness. She told me, God is like the water, He comes to shore and takes things out to the ocean for us to never see again.
This is an example from my past where God was showing me a physical picture of something spiritual. And it was a way for God to communicate with me the first day I chose to listen and to obey his voice.
This month was full of things happening in the natural to show things happening in the spiritual.
1. We just had month 7 of the race. 7 is the number of completion. I had believed from the beginning it was going to bring completion to a lot of things God was doing in me and through me.
2. As soon as I walked off the plane I had a new desire to run physically and spiritually. On my first run, I fell on the new terrain cutting up my knees and hand. I went on my longest run all race this month and got to run sprints with fast Kenyan kids who just laughed at/with me! And at our contacts house, the first day, his wife gave us all new shoes (flip flops). I really struggled with these shoes at first but by the end I could run in them.
This month included new depth of running with the Lord. It included new terrain with ministry, preaching, speaking to girls’ schools, and praying against heavy demonic spirits. It included some falls, some hurts but some healing. In high school the Lord spoke Habakkuk 3:19 to me multiple times through multiple people and I believe this month God has begun making my feet able to go to the heights.
3. We got our feet washed often by our contacts wife, Mama J. It was so humbling, not only because she was washing our feet, but they were filthy and stinky. I believe Jesus also began washing our deepest filth away this month so we can become even more like him. And when we read about Jesus washing his disciples feet in John 13 he tells his disciples to do as he does. This month we walked and spoke in more authority and power than ever before bringing salvation, freedom and restoration.
4. This was the first month where we had no running water and no electricity. It is the farthest physically I have been from the United States, the longest I have ever been away from the United States. And it was also the first time I did not feel attached to the United States. I felt a deeper level of freedom physically, emotionally and spiritually. I quit longing for American food, American showers, American beds… I learned even more of the truth in Philippians 3:7-8, ‘that everything I count a loss compared to the greatness of knowing Jesus’. I saw again, our contacts family has their physically needs met and do not need anything else including electricity and running water.
5. I HAD A BIRTHDAY! So my birthday is December 29th but I won’t be able to celebrate with my team. They all surprised me and we celebrated my birthday. They adorned me with letters, chocolate, cake, gum, cashews, raisins, cliff bars, black pens and honey scented lotion. I believe it too was a time of the spiritual growing older and God wanted to celebrate it like my team wanted to celebrate me!
These are a few times this month where I saw God physically doing something to show us something spiritual. I believe what he does spiritually can at times be a picture of what is happening or a picture of what God wants to do. Like the story from when I was 14 of God being the water, without the picture I would not have understood what God wanted to do spiritually. It took understanding the picture in order for me to release and step into the spiritual calling.
