Today is the day I am boarding my flight to serve in the Philippines for three months! I have been planing to go on this trip for a while now but have yet to post anything on social media to let people know about it. I know that may seem strange so i’m going to let y’all in on what’s been going on in my life.
So the week I got accepted to go on this amazing trip and was SO EXCITED a simple and what seemed like small thing started happening to me. My face started to break out. It was not bad and I just assumed it would go away but it did not. It continued to get worse and got so bad that i was embarrassed to leave my house or even see my friends. As it started to get closer to my trip fear started to set in. I started to think about what my squad would think of me and what all the little kids we would be with in the Philippines think when they saw me. I did not look the way I wanted to and I let that dictate my life and how I lived it. I made a decision that I would not post about my trip because I did not want people to call or text me and want to see me. Every night I would pray and ask God to heal my acne and every morning I would wake up and look in the mirror and it was still there. I did not understand what was going on and I did not know how to fix it. The confidence I had in myself was gone and I hated going out in public and having to worry about what people thought of me. It’s crazy to think that the devil can use something as small as acne to bring you down and take away your excitement that the Lord put in you to serve him.
So a few weeks ago i made the decision that I was not going to go on this trip. I convinced myself that if God wanted me to go on this trip he would have healed my face. I thought it was impossible for me to go out of the country for three months and have joy when I looked like what I thought was ugly. But then one of my good friends simply asked me
“Olivia have you sat down with God and just asked Him what he thinks about all of this”.
I knew right then that the decision I had made to not go was purely from me and not what God had planned. The enemy tried to convince me that I was not strong enough to do this. He tried to bring fear and lies into my heart because he was SCARED of how God was going to use me. The enemy feared what would happen when I put all my trust in the Lord and left the fear behind.
The last thing the enemy wants is for us to step into the calling that God has prepared for our lives. God has radical plans for all of us and once we put our full trust in Him and step into our calling; lives our completely changed. So today I am stepping into what God has called me to do. I have EXCITEMENT that I never thought i would have a few weeks ago. I am giving all my fears and doubts back to the devil cause ain’t no body need those! Thank you with all of my heart to everyone who prayed and is still praying with me and for me during this time. I could not have made it this far without your prayers and encouragement.
In saying all of this I am not saying it’s going to be easy. My face is not completely healed and I am still struggling with it, but I know the Lord will meet me right where I am at. I am striving to find all my confidence in Him and not in my outward appearance. The Holy Spirit is my best friend and gives me strength everyday and will continue through these next three months! So here’s to the next three months of my life!
( Proverbs 3:26/ The Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken. )
God is good
all the time
all the time
God is good
Love Olivia !
