I was awoken super early last Saturday morning to a sick stomach. I was frustrated at the lack of sleep I would now be getting before my team was in charge of running a Nepali church service. Unfortunately, my first thought was to be mad at God for allowing me to be feeling this way before I was supposed to be giving my testimony and my second thought was how could I use this to get my self out of sharing my testimony.
I’ve always been someone who hated the spotlight and absolutely hated public speaking. I was up most of the night anxiously writing out what I wanted to say when I stood in front of the church. I was not pleased or confident in what I had come up with, but I had no other choice but to get some rest.
So there I was sick as a dog on Saturday morning still trying to convince myself that I was sick enough to stay home. My fears and anxieties are strong in this area and the devil knew in this moment he could make himself a nice home.
My friend Reba came up to me to try to comfort me in my fears about what the day before me would hold. As unwilling as I was to hear this at first, she spoke some real truth into my situation. She proposed that fact that maybe I was sick because the devil knew there was power in my story and he was trying to hold me back from furthering the Gospel. Satan knows when people are at work for the kingdom and he will give all that he has to stop us. The cool thing is that in Christ we have the authority to speak against what Satan is doing and prevail, but that is a choice we have to make. I could have “listened” to my body and and stayed home but I would have not had the chance to worship with this wonderful Nepali church and share my story. I also would not have overcome the fight within me and the devil would have won.
As my team walked to church I continued feeling worse and worse and fought the urge to turn back multiple times. I prayed to God and he completely changed the course I would be taking with my testimony. I walked up to the stage with no idea what I would be saying, but I had peace in my heart. Last Saturday was the first day that I let the Holy Spirit speak through me. Preaching and testimonies are not about about the person speaking, but about the person who is speaking through them. We are an empty vessel that we can invite the Lord into to use for his good. The Lord uses the stories of His children to share his good news.
Last Saturday, I let go of control and I let God speak through me. I was able to share my testimony, workshop with my team, listen to my teammate preach the Word, and celebrate with a 9 year old boy as he gave his life to Christ.
How cool is that I can travel half way around the world to an unfamiliar place and still worship the same God. The race is teaching me that our God is so much bigger than I could ever wrap my mind around.
So friends I challenge you, what power are you giving the emery over your life? How can you let the Holy Spirit work through you? Stand up against that and fight because the Lord may just have a cool celebration waiting for you around the corner.
