I’ve been learning a lot lately about what it looks like to continually have my hands wide open for whatever God puts into them. To keep myself available for the Lord to use me. Learning what it looks like to wake up in a sense of availability with a “yes” on the tip of my tongue.
Yesterday was a lot of that. A lot of practice. I started out my day with an early breakfast and quiet time. It was my brothers birthday back at home so I went up the mountain to get cell reception to call him. After talking to my friends and some family backs home one of my team mates walked up to me asking if I could plan a devo for the volley ball camp we had been hosting. I said “a devo? Like for today..? Yeah I’ll do it!”
Normally, I would’ve grumbled and been like really? I have to plan this an hour before it’s supposed to be done? Great. (This is where adaptability comes in handy on the race;)
But a new excitement roared up inside of me. I ran back to the house and bounced a couple ideas off my ministry host. Tried to come up with a good bible study on my own. After a few minutes of freaking out and thinking “I literally have no idea what to do this on, this is not good.” A thought popped into my head. “Hey maybe you should invite God into this and not do it on your own…maybe..?”
hey good idea.
Pray to be trusting and expectant of the Lord.
BAM. Brilliant idea pops in my head.
The Lion King.
That movie has tons of biblical references in it. Like tons. Boom. Perfect.
I ran down to the volley ball court and asked my teammates, who were coaching kids, if they’d be up for extending ministry and doing a movie and devotional with the kids. They loved the idea. So we told all the kids to come back after lunch for a movie and popcorn. We didn’t really know how many kids to expect. We could’ve had 50 or we could’ve had 2. Around 30 showed up though! Which was an awesome surprise.
Pray to be trusting and expectant of the Lord.
After the movie I sat on the ground and asked the kids some questions about the movie. *Spoiler alert if you’ve never seen The Lion King* I related Jesus to Mufasas death, where in the process of protecting Simba from a stampede, he dies, just like Jesus coming to save us from all sin and evil and having to die in order for us to truly live on earth and eternally in heaven.
We talked about how Rafiki, the baboon, was a lot like a disciple, and like us as well. He showed how we’re supposed share the love of Jesus and spread the good news that Jesus is still alive and in heaven. He went to Simba and told him that he knew Mufasa, and that he still has a relationship with him even though everyone else thinks he’s “dead”. Rafiki then pushed Simba to seek his father for a relationship. Much like how we know God and have a relationship with him so then we can go out and help others have a relationship with Jesus too.
Okay how stinkin’ easy is it to share the gospel through a Disney movie??? Shoutout to Disney. And God.
Pray to be trusting and expectant of the Lord.
We told the kids what it looks like to accept Jesus into your heart, have a relationship with Him and to live a life for Him. We asked if they’d be interested in asking Jesus into their hearts, accepting Him as their savior, and HANDS SHOT UP AND YES’ WERE SAID.
KIDS AND TEENS ACCEPTED JESUS INTO THEIR HEARTS AFTER WATCHING THE FREAKIN LION KING!!! MORE WINS FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD!
PRAY TO BE TRUSTING AND EXPECTANT OF THE LORD!!
HE WILL SHOW UP IF YOU OPEN THE SPACE TO SEE AND LISTEN AND EXPECT HIM. wow. Gods so cool.
Right after the movie, our host asked me to run down to the basketball court because there was a tournament happening and they needed help refereeing and keeping score.
Pause. We had planned for a basketball tournament, but essentially canceled it because nobody had showed up the past few days. And now there was three teams of adults & three teams of kids, down there on the court, ready to compete. HOW??
Pray to be trusting and expectant of the Lord.
Hands wide open. Expectant. And Jesus shows up. We hadn’t had planned ministry in the afternoon the past few days and now we had an entire tournament to run? We were given an opportunity to serve, to laugh and cheer on some basketball players.
Hands wide open for whatever he places in my hands, and that afternoon it was a clock to run for a basketball tournament, a whistle & clipboard of names.
You never know where He’s needing you or what He’s wanting to do through you. Having an expectant attitude towards your day is what’s going to change your life and the lives
of others around you. Expecting God to show up, and being a vessel for whatever part of heaven He needs you to bring down to earth is what this life’s all about.
My hands are wide open.
–Kaylin
