Hey friends! It has been about 2 weeks since I left America and landed in Costa Rica. This trip has been an amazing experience so far and God has been moving in incredible ways. This month my team is working with a ministry called Transforma, which seeks to educate and empower women in high risk, low income communities. Through Transforma they receive vocational training, leadership classes, and discipleship. We are working to change communities by inspiring change in families with the belief that a mother can influence her children and impact the next generation. I will give more details in a later blog post, but for now I want to discuss something that God put on my heart before I even set foot in an international airport.
Before Adventures in Missions set us loose on the world, we had some last minute trainings to cover in Atlanta, Georgia. The second to last night I was there, we were having an incredible worship night but I was feeling stuck. I had been so focused on getting everything done before leaving that I hadn’t spent any time with the Lord. I felt like I had built a wall between God and I, and I was about to leave on a year long mission trip! The reality of my situation hit me square in the face which made me cry like a baby. When the worship leaders on stage asked everyone to raise their hand if they were feeling stuck, I reluctantly lifted mine. The people around me proceeded to pray for me and it was incredibly healing. I walked away feeling so much more prepared for what the future held… until the next night. It was basically the same environment, 300 people about to launch for the World Race were worshiping together. I was standing near the back and could see people moving around the room praying for each other. When no one came to pray over me, I started feeling jealous. Then I felt God whisper softly to my soul, why aren’t you praying for anyone else? It was a simple and gentle question but I felt it through my bones. I realized that I had fallen back into a victim mentality that had been so comfortable for me just last year- a mindset that made me see myself as wounded, less than, always in need of healing.
Now I know that this world is hard and cruel, no one makes it through without some hurts, but God doesn’t want our lives to be defined by the pain we experience. The sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross was not only that we may have a personal relationship with God, it was also designed so that we don’t have to be defined by the things of this world, sin or wounds. I know that when I started pursuing Christ I was made new and redeemed in Him, so why do I keep returning to a place of brokenness? Why do I define myself as wounded, when God sees at me as righteous? When am I going to walk in the reality of the power that is offered to me?
I remember one of the most impactful quotes I’ve ever heard is “If the enemy can’t steal your salvation, then he will try to steal your effectiveness”. If Satan can make you ineffective for the Kingdom by making you think you are unworthy, unloved, or unhealed then he has won the battle. Refuse to believe those lies! Cling to the power that has been offered to you from heaven through the Holy Spirit. Believe in the healing power of grace and live from that truth. Live as a holy citizen of heaven rather than a wounded inhabitant of earth. Join with me in choosing to live wholly loved and wholly redeemed each and every day.
