So there I was, surrounded by “ Super Christians.” It was the first day of Training Camp and I was in the Atlanta Georgia Airport meeting my teammates for the first time. I was so nervous, with a thousand different thoughts racing through my head. “Am I good enough to do this, to be a missionary?” Aren’t they supposed to be super Holy or something? I’m just a sinner, who fails God DAILY? So, what I’m I doing here calling myself a missionary? I was a little confused, extremely nervous, and thought how will I ever make it through this next week.
Well, it has been nearly a month since Training Camp and guess what? I loved it. We ate crazy food, hiked, slept in terrible conditions, learned about different cultures and shared some amazing memories I’ll never forget. Oh and remember those “Super Christians” I told you about well, they became my best friends! Although I could tell you all of those stories, tonight as I write this, the only one I want to tell you about is what God placed on my heart while I was at camp.
It’s so hard for me to understand God’s love for us. I can’t wrap my mind around the thought that he still loves me even though I fall short every single day. I new he had called me to this trip, but I felt inadequate and broken, carrying around the weight of my sin. But while I was at camp, I felt God’s incredible love. I had always known of it, but for the first time I truly FELT it. He showed me it didn’t matter what I had done in the past, my eating disorder, my sexual sins, my lies, my pride, drinking, gossiping, the list goes on and on and on. As it does for everyone, including my teammates who I mistakenly thought of as judgmental “Super Christians”. We all deal with addictions and struggles in our lives but we are the sons and daughters of the creator of the universe! And As Jesus hung on the cross he thought of us, He thought of me, and He thought of you! He knew of your future sins as he put you together in your mothers womb and his very own son loved you so much that He chose to die on the cross for your sins. Wow, I get goose bumps just thinking about it. At camp I was able to break those final chains that were holding me back from truly experiencing life as God intended it to be. Whatever you're going through our God is not a God of resentment. He's waiting for you to turn back to him and he is waiting with open arms Luke 15:11-32. On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Mark 2:17.
In the same way, God is not waiting on you to be perfect to use you. No, God will use you while you’re growing. God will use you while you’re changing, while you’re maturing. Yes, we need to always be striving for perfection but I finally understand that there is a progression in everything. We can't beat ourselves up over our past sins but we need to allow God to use them to strengthen us and the ones around us. Believe me, It will make all the difference.
“Jacob was a cheater, Peter had a temper, David had an affair, Noah got drunk, Jonah ran from God, Paul was a murderer, Gideon was insecure, Miriam was a gossip, Martha was a worrier, Thomas was a doubter, Sara was impatient, Elijah was moody, Moses stuttered, Abraham was old,… and Lazarus was dead. God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the CALLED!”
The Called
-Ciera
