It always seems to be an easy thing to follow Jesus when everything in your life is going right. We tend to forget that He even exists or to thank Him for the things that He gives us. But one thing that I know to be true is that God is with us wherever we go. {Joshua 1:9} This past couple of weeks have been an absolute whirlwind of emotions, like a roller coaster! Don’t get me wrong, I love when things go perfectly, but I am so thankful for this past month or so. It has shown me a lot about the character of God and just how much He really loves us and wants to protect His children.
GRATIFICATION
Now, let me explain what I mean by the statement above. For the World Race, I have to raise over $18,000 in order to go overseas at the start of January. So in mid August, I went to the board of elders at my church and spoke to them about my trip. At that point in my fundraising, I had a couple people who were supporting me monthly, and I had made some money up from graduation, but I was NO WHERE near my end goal. I was nervous because this was something that I had never done before. Sure, I went to Vietnam and had to raise a little less than $3,000, but this trip was a whole new ball park! So at the end of the meeting with the elders, I was asked to step outside so they could discuss terms and the amount they would be giving. I knew that it was in the Lord’s hands so I wasn’t worried at all about what would happen from here. But let me tell you, even without expectations of what was going to happen that day, MY EXPECTATIONS WERE BLOWN OUT OF THE WATER!! They have gone above and beyond to support me on this trip and I’m so thankful that my faithfulness to the Lord’s call on my life lead me to Compass Church. I have gratification because of the community around me that supports me in all of my journeys for the Lord. It’s going to be hard to step away from Compass for a whole year because I do so much for them, and they do a lot for me. But I know this is exactly where I am suppose to be so I am going with an open heart and a willingness to learn whatever the Lord has for me overseas.
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. {Psalm 28:7}
PROVISION
After my meeting with the elders, I was on cloud nine! The following week an anonymous donor from my church ended up donating another large lump sum to my trip and I was even more blown away with how the Lord was providing for me! The next couple of days followed by one of my aunts donating the second largest donation of my trip, a new friend donating a one time gift, and an old friend of mine donating a one time gift! Let me explain this a little better without giving away any single amounts. Over these past couple of weeks, I have received an overwhelming $6,750 from my community!!! PRAISE GOD for His provision that He set aside specifically for me and this trip. He put every amount on the hearts of these specific people so that He could BLESS ME THROUGH THEM! He is such a good Father!! With these donations, I am so happy to announce that I am only a little over $4,000 away from my $18,200 goal! Praise, seriously, be to God the Father, because He is securing my spot on this trip for His glories that He wants me to encounter around the world!
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service. {1 Timothy 1:12}
TRIBULATION
But, when the Lord is hard at work in us and through us, the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy the works of the Lord. {John 10:10} And of course, with the amount of protection and provision that the Lord has given me, the enemy only had one way he knew would knock me down, or so he thought. One night as I was out with a group of girls from a church in town celebrating a friends’ birthday, my truck was broken in to. My truck is definitely a talking point, because most ladies don’t drive lifted up trucks. Don’t get me wrong, I do love my truck, but I have thought plenty of times to get rid of it. Whether it be the time someone tried to steal it completely 2 days before Christmas, someone stealing my 50 caliber bullet antenna, or even now. But my truck is not a stronghold in my life. As I stood there with 6 faithful friends of mine, I was full of joy and peace because, praise God, NOTHING was taken from my truck. Not the bracelets and keychains I am selling, not the hiking backpack someone gave me as a gift worth $250, not the money I had in there for security in a sticky situation, and not the truck itself! NOTHING WAS TAKEN! I knew that in this very instance, the Lord had protected me in this tribulation. And through this, I was able to minister to the women standing in the parking lot with me because they were upset that this happened. They couldn’t understand why I was rejoicing that the Lord provided again, after all the “positive” things that had happened those weeks before. They were confused as to why I was joking around and singing silly songs. But, we were never told that we would be free of trials or tribulations, we were told that Jesus overcame them! {see John 16:33}. So with what happened that night, I knew that I was exactly where I needed to be! The enemy will try and trip you up because he is a roaring lion that prowls around looking for someone to devour {1 Peter 5:8}. This sounds scary, but when you are in control of the things that God wants you to have control over, it is so easy to laugh right in the face of the enemy.
Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. {Psalm 55:22}
PRAYER
In the middle of that parking lot, 7 women stood, holding hands, and thanking the Lord for His protection, His provision, and His faithfulness to someone who did not deserve it. He stepped in and intervened, in a moment where someone was being hurtful and hateful, and He made them flee the scene. The Lord could have stopped there, but He didn’t. He gave me a community of women who could not only minister to me, but who I could show what true faith looked like in the face of the enemy’s attacks. I thank God every day for the group of ladies that have come into my life as of recently. Each one of them has a story, and they all have a walk different than mine, but I want to know them. I want to see them like Christ does, and I want to know why our paths have crossed. He is such a good father who knows who and what we need, and I don’t want to take for granted these girls because I know I will learn something from them.
CHILD-LIKE FAITH
That Sunday, only 2 days later, I was teaching in the 2nd and 3rd grade classroom. It was Promotion Sunday, which meant that all the kids got to change classrooms corresponding to their new grade level. I had a class full of 2nd graders, who were so excited about having Miss Morgan as their teacher! As we were reading through scriptures for that week, we can across a couple verses that I would like to share with you to give you background for this next moment that God came in. The first scripture was {Proverbs 3:5-6}, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. In all your ways obey him. Then he will make your paths smooth and straight.” One of the kids explained that this means when you follow Jesus, he helps you through things. So I agreed with them and moved to the next scripture, {Luke 6:31}, “Do to others as you want them to do to you.” Another kid explained that this means we need to treat others nicely so God is nice to us. I smiled and continued with the next scripture, {Matthew 21:22}, “If you believe, you will receive what you ask for when you pray.” A girl raised her hand in the class, and asked,”What do you say when you pray?” And at that moment, I got to show a girl how to pray for the VERY FIRST TIME! Tears flooded my eyes that afternoon as I reflected on that very moment when the Lord prepared this girl’s heart to receive a word from myself as a vessel for the Lord. She was able to for the first time, speak to our Heavenly Father who listens to the prayers of His children and who collects all of our tears {Psalm 56:8}. Her faith in prayer reminded me of the child-like faith we are called to have as believers {see Matthew 18:2-4}. When was the last time you came to the Father, with arms open wide, wanting to talk to Him about everything that goes on in your life? He may know what happens in our life, but He wants to hear from you and what you want or need to get through it.
Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer. {Romans 12:12}
TRUTH
We were created in His image {Genesis 1:27}, because he wanted someone to have community with! I feel so fortunate to have a relationship with a Father who knew me even before I was born! {See Jeremiah 1:5; Isaiah 49:1; Galatians 1:15} Even when I ran 1,000 miles per hour in the opposite direction and wanted nothing to do with The Lord, He patiently waited for me to return to Him and to know that He was what I was looking for for so long. I may not know what your story is, but I know that the Father of Heaven wants a relationship like that with you. I know that He wants you, ALL of you, because He died for you. He died one of the worse deaths, on a cross. And I am forever grateful for His grace and mercy that He continues to pour out on me even when I am not worthy of it.
I’m not saying that every day is like this, but I know that personally, for me, this past couple of weeks have been a remarkable testament to how faithful the Lord is. I’m so grateful for all the things he does for me, and I wouldn’t want to walk through life with anyone but Him.
Have a blessed week everyone. I pray that you begin to see the little things the Lord is doing in your life and that you would be aware that it is He, the one of blessings, that orchestrated those moments.
A COUPLE PRAYER POINTS:
-A lot of the members on my team are not financially secure in their fund raising. We must have $5,000 by the end of September in order to go to training camp in October. Let’s pray that they would have divine appointments with people who the Lord is preparing to bless them through.
-Let’s pray that leading up to training camp everyone would be preparing their hearts for what the Lord wants us to hear and see.
-Also, let’s pray that the friendships that will form over the next year would be rooted in the Lord and would be blessings to everyone. I have heard of stories where teams turn on each other and I want to pray against that.
-With time approaching for me to leave, it is beginning to hit a little bit that I will actually be gone and I’m starting to hurt for the friendships that I currently have. I want to make the most of the time I have here in the states, so pray that my time would be most effective when I am with others.
-Also pray that the attacks of the enemy would seize in the name of Jesus, himself. For me, for my team, for those all around me.
