In just 18 days I will be heading to the Big Apple to finally start this journey that God laid on my heart almost two years ago.
Uncertain. Doubtful. Hesitant.
For the last two years these three words have described my life perfectly. Since college graduation, I have been uncertain of the direction I wanted to go with my career, doubtful that I could accomplish my goals, but most of all hesitant to listen to what God was calling me to do.
If you’ve read my “About Me” section of my blog, you know that I haven’t always been on the right path with my relationship with Christ. I took a few detours – which led to frustration, confusion, and heartbreak – but around October 2015 I realized that the reason for the uncertainty and the doubtfulness, was because of my hesitancy to listen to God.
Surrender.
That is what it took. Surrendering every single area of my “busy” life to Christ. I started by making Sunday morning service a priority. When I started to make God a priority, everything else started to fall into place. When I opened up my schedule for God, He opened up my eyes to tons of opportunities, genuine friendships, and showed me that if I am not reluctant to listen to Him, He will provide plenty of opportunities for me to glorify His kingdom. I started by volunteering at our church’s nursery, which led me to be interested in getting involved in our church’s youth ministry, which led me to volunteer as a youth leader for 10th grade girls, which led me to Sara Ekiss.
Sara Ekiss.
A spunky, kind, God-fearing, 23 year old, who is the prime example of not being hesitant to God’s calling. Her and her husband, Chris, uprooted from their small hometown in Mississippi to move to a random church (located in a shopping center) to join our worship team. They left everything; family, friends, job, their street ministry; all because they felt like God was calling them to take this leap of faith. How does this relate to my journey? Seeing Sara’s confidence in the Lord’s plan for her and Chris’ life changed mine. For the last two years, God has laid international ministry on my heart, but again, because of doubt and uncertainty, I was hesitant. My passion for children’s ministry, my escalating relationship with Christ, and my new relationships with confident believers, pushed me to finally surrender the last area of my life: comfort.
Comfort.
Anyone that knows me knows that I am not a fan of change. So this was way out of my comfort zone. God laid the World Race on my heart two years ago and every single time it crossed my mind or was mentioned by someone that knew my interest in it, I just pushed it under the rug. The exposure to being uncomfortable made me extremely hesitant. But, on January 2nd, I finally pressed the submit button on my World Race application. I will never forget the relief, the confidence, the comfort that I felt after pressing it. Just 10 days later I got the phone call saying that I had been accepted for the April 2016 Expedition Tour to the 10/40 Window. Since that phone call I have been physically, mentally, but most of all spiritually preparing myself for my huge leap of faith. It may mean tons of changes and experiences that are out of my comfort zone, but I completely trust in God’s plan for me. Not being hesitant to God’s calling has already been so spiritually rewarding and I cannot wait to see how God uses my team over the next 11 months.
Do not be hesitant to God’s calling for your life.
Get involved.
Volunteer.
Surround yourself with confident believers.
Make your relationship with God a priority.
Take your leap of faith.
Be certain.
Be confident.
Do not hesitate.
God has something huge planned for your life, just be confident in HIS PLAN. By no means does that mean you have to sign up for an 11 month mission trip right now. My leap of faith started small – just by simply making Sunday mornings a priority. So I challenge you – take a step closer to fully trusting in His plan, whatever that step my be. There are endless amounts of wonderful opportunities for you, all you have to do is surrender every area, step out of your comfort zone, and trust that His plan is greater than any fear or doubt that you may have.
By His Grace & For His Glory,
Erin
Please consider joining my support system by donating to my World Race by clicking the Support Me link to your left!
I am currently about $4,500 from being FULLY FUNDED! That means I have raised a little over $13,000 since January 12th! GOD IS SO GOOD. THANK YOU to all that have contributed so far! I can’t even begin to explain how grateful I am for each donation — THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
