One word from you
Things change
On your Authority
Things definitely changed this semester. Instead of leaving the country for three months, the Lord kept me a little closer to home. There still was a change though. I graduated high school in December (which seems to be the only thing that went as planned) and moved to Birmingham to begin the next chapter of my life at Samford University.
As I reflect on this past semester, I am able to see all the different areas in which God’s hand was in my life and moving in my heart. The Lord has definitely been working on my prayer life over the past few months and tugging on my heart strings. He put people and opportunities in my life that just completely exposed the areas in which I was lacking. From trust, to discernment, to compassion, patience, and grace – every attempt I made on my own failed. There were countless early mornings and numerous conversations with God asking for things I was unable to cultivate on my own. My insufficiency was continually being exposed in so many different areas of my heart.
In all my searching and acquisitions, the only answer I could find was prayer. There was no way I could find answers or solutions on my own accord. Without the wisdom poured out through His Word and the Holy Spirit, I wrestled with confusion and vexation. To find patience and clarity, I had to set my mind on the Spirit and open my hands to allow Him to soften my heart and silence the voices of this world. Prayer is God’s invitation to us to be made whole by growing near to Him. Paul reminds us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) because we will never reach a point where we are sufficient on our own. Jesus’s command to deny yourself daily requires us to accept our insufficiency and specifically acknowledge what we must lay down. We must allow God to consume us from the inside out and purify our hearts.
I want to be tried by fire
Purified
You take whatever you desire
Lord here’s my life
Clean my hands
Purify my heart
I want to burn for you
Only for you
Take my life
As a sacrifice
I want to burn for you
Only for you
(Maverick City Music, Refiner)
Here is where I lay it down
Every burden every crown
Here is where I lay it down
Every lie and every doubt
This is my surrender
I will make room for you
To do whatever you want to
(The Church Will Sing, Make Room)
This is my prayer as I ask the Lord to prepare my heart for my time in Columbia. For the month of June, I will get to serve the Lord in the country of Columbia. On my own accord, my ministry would be miniscule and my testimony unsubstantial. All I can hope for is that it would not be my hands and feet that would walk through Columbia but the hands and feet of Jesus. That I would deny myself and take up my cross daily. I ask that the Lord would purify my heart so my light can burn for Him. That I would surrender to and make room for the Lord to work through me in whatever way He desires.
