We all love our houses to have walls, right? I mean walls help keep us warm when it’s cold, and cool when it’s hot. They protect us from burglars and those who seek to do us harm. They support the roof over our heads. They give us separate rooms where we can enclose ourselves in solitude and in peace. They provide us with outlets for electricity, openings for ventilation, and for room to put in a window so that we may see what is happening on the other side of the wall.
Last Saturday, I flew into Atlanta, GA with no idea what to expect. It was Training Camp week, and through all of the horror stories and tall tales I had heard through both blogs and people that attended, I remained optimistic about what was to take place throughout the course of that week. Let’s just say that I am very glad that I had no expectations because what happened through that week would have broken any expectation I could have had. I will admit, however, that although I had no expectations for the week, I did have many walls around my heart from past events in my life that I knew would be tough to break down.
After arriving at 11am, I and fellow squad mates who also were at the airport boarded a shuttle to Gainesville, GA, the home of Adventures in Missions. When we pulled into the facility, I knew this week was to be completely different than any other week. I was right. We were instantly greeted with smiles, hugs, people shaking our hands and telling us how good it was to finally meet us. Wait, finally meet us? As it turns out, these people had been praying for each and every one of us since the day each of us had committed to World Race. That thought began to break down the walls.
God has this ridiculous way of eating away at the insecurities in our lives. During the course of this week, He used the people at AIM to demolish some of the strongest walls around my heart. During worship, the people of AIM would walk up to others and pray over them. The fact that they knew what was on our hearts at those particular moments is still something I have a hard time believing. Each time they prayed, it felt as though the Holy Spirit gave them the words to say so that He could start working in our hearts.
As if the Holy Spirit working through the people of AIM wasn’t enough, God used my fellow squad mates to break down walls as well. Throughout the course of the week, I was reminded of what God’s love looks like in a community. I am incredibly blessed to be involved in a one of a kind squad with a one of a kind team. People like Cody Wittick, Josh Hernandez, and Jacob Quijas reminded me of what a brotherhood of believers looks like, and although I only have known them personally for less than two weeks, I feel as though I can be vulnerable with them about anything in my life. I have never had that before. I’ve always been one to keep things bottled up, but God gave me these incredible people to help sharpen me.
I have began to see that sometimes the best houses don’t need walls. With God breaking down many of my insecurities and letting me know that He will love me no matter what I do, I have found peace in Him. When He broke down those walls, he replaced them with an incredible squad and people that will love and support me no matter what happens. He gave me brothers that are willing to wake up at 6am every morning to pray over our squad and our teams, while also serving as loving accountability partners. Our bodies are temples of God, but they don’t need walls. As long as we are filled with the Holy Spirit, our bodies and our lives will be supported by the love, joy, and peace only he can provide. Those fruits are stronger than any brick and mortar can ever be.
I’m so excited to see what is next in our journeys. God’s got some serious plans.
– N.J. Shear
