I grew up longing to spread the word of Jesus. In elementary school when asked what I wanted to be when i grew up I would proudly say ” A MISSIONARY!!” I was so on fire for Christ and no one could extinguish that flame. Christ was my everything, well… when everything was going good for me.
I grew up being a pretty good athlete. I was almost always a starter and got a lot of playing time. I also grew up knowing everyone and had a lot of friends. These two things were my REAL everything. I thought I was a real follower of Christ and I thought I could take on the world with him. That is until he flipped my world upside down and I turned out to be just a fan.
God decided he wanted to move me 1000 miles from everything I knew. A place where I had no friends and I warmed the bench. He took away the things I was madly in love with. Christ says you can’t love two masters and He showed me what master I was really in love with. I decided that Christ wasn’t who I wanted to follow. I decided I knew what was best for me and what was going to make me happy. I started to do things that shocked friends and family.
Long story short, I tried to fill an emptiness inside of me with things that could never satisfy me. The hole in my heart engulfed everything I threw at it. It was after I had exhausted all my worldly options that I finally came to terms with what I needed. Jesus was the only way.
I felt so dirty and ashamed of who I had become. I became the person I swore I would never be. How could Jesus still use someone with a reputation like mine? How could people possibly want to hear about Jesus from a guy like me? I was reminded of the story of Paul. A man who was arresting Christians. A man who was directly working against Christ. He then was called by Christ to spread the word! A man that spent a big portion of his life trying to stop Christianity was being called to serve. Christ reminded me that he can use any situation and any person to bring Him glory. Christ reminded me of my fire that I had to be a missionary and spread the love of Christ. He reminded me that my sins are as far as the east is from the west! He has called me back to show His love in 11 countries in 11 months!!
