Throughout my eleven months on the World Race, my eyes have been opened to a type of community I have never experienced before. While I have always loved being around people, the Race has made me thrive in community and crave it when I am alone. Yes, I still love spending time in the presence of God by myself, but community has become such a vital part of my life.
Before the Race, I never knew the Body of Christ could be so powerful. This morning God showed me that power during our church service.
From the moment we began worshiping, I could sense the presence of the Holy Spirit. We worshiped God in multiple languages – Romanian, Swiss German, and English – and lifted our hands to praise our Creator. Being consumed by the goodness of God with hundreds of people brought me to my knees in pure awe. I was struck yet again by His goodness, His power, and His love that surpasses everything in this world.
As the pastor spoke, God began stirring my heart and mind in regards to my future ministry. Without knowing the specifics of what my ministry will look like, I became filled with excitement at the ministry God is preparing me for. I was reminded through the pastor that it’s not about my incapabilities, but about God’s capabilities. God has what it takes to do the impossible! All I could think of was how I want to be used by the Holy Spirit in new and creative ways the rest of my life.
As all of these thoughts were brewing inside of me, a sharp pain entered my stomach. I started praying on my own, casting out the pain and asking God to heal me. Something God taught me the previous month was to exercise the authority I have as a believer in Christ by boldly praying for healing over myself and others. So I kept praying on my own, fully believing the pain would leave. After around thirty minutes, the pain was still present and started to increase. Trying not to get discouraged, I kept praying and believing God would heal me.
I started to wonder where this pain was coming from. My first thought was from the unprocessed 3% fat milk I drank with my cereal (from the dairy farm my team is staying at this month). But the pain I was experiencing was a unique pain, one that was unfamiliar to me.
After several more minutes, the pain became so sharp that tears began filling my eyes. My teammate Christina turned towards me to ask a question and quickly noticed that something was wrong. She asked if I was alright and I told her about the jabbing pain in my stomach. Without me having to ask, Christina put one arm around my shoulder and one hand on my stomach and began praying. After several seconds of praying together, the pain instantly disappeared.
In that moment I was overcome by the power God has placed in His children. While I had been praying for over thirty minutes on my own, the pain in my stomach left within seconds as soon as Christina joined me. I saw the verse, Matthew 18:20, come alive: “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”
After the service, I knew this pain was a spiritual attack. God was stirring my excitement for furthering His Kingdom, while Satan was trying to deviate my thoughts. My teammate Nikki told me after the service – without knowing anything that had happened to me – that God revealed things to her about my future ministry during worship. God was using the Body of Christ in some powerful ways! No wonder Satan started scheming.
Though Satan intended to bring me down, I left the service more encouraged in my faith than when I first arrived. I left in awe of God’s power, in awe of His ways, and in awe of the body of believers He created!
Praise God that when things are too much for us to handle on our own, we have other believers to come alongside us. Praise God that we were created not to be alone, but to be in community. Praise God that we sharpen one another just as iron sharpens iron. Praise God that we get to share in the joys and sorrows of life with other people.
Praise God that two are more powerful than one!
