On Friday, November 11, I joined my church for a night of outreach. For those of you who aren’t familiar with what outreach is, it is where a group of us goes out to encourage and share about the love of Christ with people in our community. I love how God always shows up in such different and beautiful ways each time. All day Friday, I was in prayer for whatever it was God had in store for that night. Excitement built up in me more and more through out the day until I began driving to church to meet up with everyone. Anxious thoughts started to flood my mind and I began overthinking things. (For those of you that have heard/read my testimony, you know that anxiety was and sometimes still is something I battle with) I spent the rest of the car ride praying and thanking God for all that he had planned for that night and also praying for the people he was going to lead us to. These were the bible verses I spoke out loud on the car ride to church;
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, love, and a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7
As I got out of my car and started walking into church, God filled my heart with this question, “Do you trust me?” This made me think about all he has done in my life up to this point. In that moment, I felt peace. After worship and prayer we decided to go to Woodland Mall and split up into groups of two. I was partnered up with my friend Yoseph and it was put on his heart to go to the second floor in Barnes and Nobles. It was here that God lead us right to a wonderful man named Tim. Tim was reading a book on how to overcome anxiety and depression. The three of us got to talking and Tim shared more of his story on how he had been struggling with anxiety and depression for a long period of time. He told us that he was ‘let go’ from work for three weeks so he could work on managing all of these feelings. My heart ached when he shared on how ashamed he felt because he truly believed he was letting down his family. I could hear the brokenness and heart in his voice. He told us how anxiety consumed him at work, at home and the majority of his days. Yoseph and I asked him if it was okay for us to pray with him and he seemed both surprised and glad we asked! The smile that was on his face once we were finished praying was enough to fill my heart with an abundance of joy. He thanked us numerous times and I believe he truly felt the love of Jesus in that moment!
We spent the next hour in a beautiful and unforgettable conversation! We shared our testimonies, talked about church, the freedom that can be found in Jesus, family, sports, and music! This was the part of the conversation where God truly used Tim to bring me out of my comfort zone and bring something back to life that I once thought was only a part of my past; the passion and love for singing! We got to talking about Rascal Flatts and how much Tim’s wife and I loved there music. Tim couldn’t remember the lyrics to his wife’s favorite song so he began to hum the melody. I guessed “God Bless The Broken Road,” and that is when he told me to sing it!
— For those of you that knew me as a young girl know I used to sing this song all the time. Any chance I was given to sing it for people, I would. The reaction it would put on there faces and the joy it seemed to bring them, always kept me singing. Around my Senior year in High School, I began going down a different path in life and struggled to follow the Lord. It became normal for me to belittle myself, care about other peoples opinions, and simply give up. I became my worst critique and let anxiety take place in this area of my life. Over the past few months I’ve been praying and asking God to get me out of comfort zone, to restore courage in my heart and to help me pursue singing again. I’m so thankful God used Tim to bring healing and breakthrough in this area of my life! —
This encounter with Tim has left me full of hope! To be able to spend time with a complete stranger and be so moved on both ends of the conversation, blows me away. I now understand why earlier on God asked me that simple question, “Do you trust me?” Even when anxiety tried to get the best of me, God reminded me that He always goes before us and is always with us; He never leaves us nor forsakes us, (Deuteronomy 31:8). Sometimes these situations call us to get out of our comfort zone. But if you think about it, a simple obedience could change history. I know with all my heart that this is the start to something new and beautiful in my life and I hope and pray the same is true for Tim.
** If you’d like to hear me sing “God Bless The Broken Road,” you can either click on the vimeo link below or ‘copy and paste’ it into your browser. 
Also, feel free to subscribe to my blog so you can stay up to date with my mission trip for the 11 months that I am away. **
Thank you all for taking the time to read this and for letting me share this song!
God Bless!
(LINK BELOW)
