Last month my team and I spent our first month in Europe. We spent the month in Albania. We partnered with a bible college called Christ for the Nations Albania. Over the coarse of the month we were given so many responsibilities that caused me to stretch and grow in so many ways. We led prayer with the bible students, we led small groups, we had a children’s camp, we led a Sunday Service, and a multitude of other things. I’ll tell you all about one of the most memorable meetings I had the privilege of leading.
I was responsible for leading a small group for a group of older women. I had written a message about comparison and covetous but with everything in me I just knew it wasn’t the right audience for that message. The day before, it dawned on me that the entire small group was women. The World Race has a women’s ministry called Beauty for Ashes. So I decided to do a Beauty for Ashes activity for the small group. Everything was set and I was ready to lead the small group. 10 minutes before it’s time to leave our host tells me that HE will be translating because our usual female translator can’t make it. Again I emphasize the HE will be translating.
I was PANICKED! I couldn’t do a women’s ministry event with a man there! Here I was in the car on my way to the small group that I was supposed to be leading and I had NO IDEA what I was going to talk about. We arrive at the house and walk in. All the while I’m praying GOD PLEASE GIVE ME SOMETHING TO SAY!!!! So we sit down around the living room. In my mind I am mentally in a battle. One part of me is saying just do the message you already had prepared. The other part of me is saying that I KNOW that isn’t the right message for this audience so I CAN’T give that message. I am back and forth like a ping-pong game in my mind. Then I saw Philippians 2:5-6 written on the 1 piece of paper in the front of my bible. And I remember how blown away I was when I first read that scripture. At that moment I made a choice.
Before coming on the world race I heard all these stories about God doing all of these amazing things for people. People shared the gospel and started sharing things they didn’t even know before they said them. People have spoken in languages they didn’t even know because they followed the leading of the Holy Spirit. There are all kinds of crazy things that have happened. Earlier in the month during worship God had spoken to me the phrase “you have to need me more to know me more.” I knew that I would never know if God could give me a sermon in the moment if I didn’t chose to trust Him in that way. I said to myself scratch that old message I’m going to give a message about Philippians. Then I remember a scripture in Acts that I had been reading before. I took the random bookmarks from the back of my bible. I marked those two scriptures and I said okay God I’m trusting that you will take these two scriptures and turn it into a 20 min message. AND HE DID.
I started talking about the humility of Christ and the next thing I know it’s over. At the very end our host added a few words but for the most part God gave me an entire message in the moment. It was crazy!
The biggest lesson that I learned from this experience is that “I have to need Him more to know Him more.” I have to take risks and put myself in a position that is so far beyond my natural abilities that it would HAVE TO BE God that gets me through. Last month was incredible and I grew SO MUCH! Albania and CFN will forever have a place in my heart.
