Every Friday night at Santa Cecilia, the church where we are staying, there is worship and a message. The Friday night services are one of my favorite things. It’s a little more relaxed, and I love listening to everyone sing in Spanish. Plus, the view from the mountain top at night is beautiful. On this particular Friday night, the message was delivered by our friend Danny. We’ve gotten to know Danny pretty well because he works for the foundation we are doing ministry through here in Bogota. He was preaching about not conforming to the standards of the world and being your own person in Christ. He gave this verse as the first example:
“Do not conform to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” -Romans 12:2
Now, I may have only understood parts of Danny’s message because of the language barrier, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t paying attention. I was paying attention to what was happening in my heart.
I’ve been struggling recently with being able to hear the Lord’s voice. At training camp, I started to really hear the Lord’s voice. There was a night when one of our squad trainers, Teresa, gave us an acorn and told us to think of a word that our acorn represented. The word I got was love. My acorn represented loving myself more and loving my teammates and squadmates more. There’s more to this story, but I’ll save that for later posts.
Throughout our first few weeks here in Colombia, I’ve strived to hear His voice again because it’s been so quiet since training camp. It’s a work in progress, but I’m trying to find my identity in Christ and yearning to hear His voice again. During this Friday night service, I was asking the Lord to give me a sign or allow me to hear his voice. I automatically heard the phrase “You are my Child.” I almost starting bawling right there in the front row of church. I heard it so loudly I could feel it in my bones. It was like He was reassuring me that I am His child and that I am meant to be on this journey.
What’s cool about hearing His voice is that sometimes He allows other people to be a part of it. We were sitting at team time the following Saturday, and I shared this story from Friday service with my teammates. Our team leader Joey said that she had been praying for me to have a special relationship with the Lord for the last few days. It was such a God moment because how else would she have known to pray for me in that way when I didn’t even know it yet.
It’s so evident that He is present here in our lives, and this is just one of the stories.
