Last month, we had all the teams of I squad together for all squad month. There were roughly 28 of us all living under one roof in Draganesti-Olt, a small town in Romania. Talk about an experience! The month was a blast from ministry, fellowship, discipleship and growing in my own relationship with Jesus. Ministry looked different practically every day. I had the privilege to play soccer with a bunch of kids, paint the inside of the church, go house to house handing out copies of the Bible, and even babysit Emma, the cutest two-year-old ever!
It was all a blast! But there was one day in particular that clearly stands out as my favorite day of last month. On this particular day, I had volunteered to share a short message at an evening church service in a nearby city. The night before, I was told I could talk about whatever topic I wanted.
I asked the Holy Spirit what He wanted me to share. I tend to hear the Spirit talking to me in very subtle ways over time, however, hearing His voice more in the moment is something I had been praying for. I went to sleep having no idea what my short message would be about, but I figured I would take time first thing in the morning to plan it out.
I woke up early in the morning ready to plan out my message, however, God had a different plan. I felt a strong conviction and reminder of a message I had recently listened to by Francis Chan. In this message, Francis discussed our responsibility to simply stay connected to Jesus, just as a branch is connected to a vine. And how from this, God will naturally produce fruit. So instead of thinking about what I would talk about, I went about my normal morning devotion.
I spent time talking to God and reading my Bible. While in the midst of this, I felt the Holy Spirit clearly put the word of “hope” on my heart. I knew it was God telling me what my message needed to be about, although, I still didn’t know exactly what about hope He was wanting to speak of. Later in the morning the Holy Spirit clearly spoke to me again. He wanted me to talk about the peoples’ sin and why they were in need of hope. Hope in which comes only from having a personal relationship with Jesus. I then started writing a quick outline of my message. With the Holy Spirit leading me I had my short message planned out. I would share the simple Gospel and how it is hope for every single person!
A group of us got into a van to drive to the church service. While listening to worship music in the back of the van I felt the Holy Spirit speak an awesome word to me. He reminded me of a saying in which people often say when they greatly want something, “I’m dying to have this!” He then told me this is how He feels about people. But God is not only saying “I’m dying to have them”. He, in fact, did die to have us. Jesus willingly received torture and was murdered on a cross because He was DYING TO HAVE US!! At that moment I was overwhelmed with the weight of God’s love and what He did for us, us meaning every person on the face of the planet (1 John 2:2). I knew I had to include this awesome word in the message!
Once we arrived at the church, roughly 15 minutes before the service started, I was told my message was supposed to be sharing the Gospel. I guess there was a miscommunication when I was given my original instructions about being able to speak on whatever topic I wanted. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit doesn’t make mistakes and had already told me to share the hope of the Gospel.
As the service started I was nervous, but God gave me peace. The message went well and I am so thankful to have experienced the Holy Spirit speaking and instructing me as well as speaking through me. As with a lot of the ministry we do, I was not able to see any immediate fruit as a result of the message, but I know it is in God’s hands and He is working in each of the peoples lives that were at the church service that day.
If you are a Christian sometimes the thought of hearing or experiencing the Holy Spirit can seem like a far-off idea but scripture is clear that our souls have been sealed with the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14) and He lives and works within us. Take some time today to speak to the Holy Spirit. Even more importantly, take the time to slow down and listen. He loves you and wants to speak to you!
