My experience began uniquely.
It was two years ago during Spring Break that I heard the Lord say, “Yes” to me going back to Savannah. I had no idea what that looked like at the time but I knew in my heart was deeply broken for the ministry I was told about in the area.
Flash forward to last October. I made the decision that I was going to go on a mission trip. I was so uncertain. Mission Discovery weekend came and it gave me the purpose to go. Acts 1:8 is our purpose verse this year and it was so empowering to be a part of the many students who felt led to go serve our creator.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
I was unable to say “no” to SendMeNow at this point. It was too difficult to ignore God’s calling with this verse. It led me to the point that called God called me to go. So, I applied to many places and waited. I was chosen for the Savannah, GA trip to help women in crisis. This was exciting for me to hear because that was my first choice.
As the semester came to a close, I became so nervous. When I got there, the Lord equipped me with churches, new friends and small lessons that helped me later in the summer and in life.
One of those lessons was to trust His Sovereign Grace. He is the maker of the Heavens and the Earth. He is the Alpha, Omega and Prince of Peace. He is faithful so why wouldn’t I trust him? Learning to trust Him through the thick of summer in panic and fear of the unknown was not easy. It was a continued lesson that that began when this story began. It evolved into a trust and surrender that can only be accredited to God Himself.
Another lesson I learned was to rely on His strength. Without His strength, I would have burnt out and begun to go through the motions doing simple tasks. With His strength, the Lord provided the attitude, ears to listen and heart to open wide for me to do everything I could in Savannah for His glory. He also gave me the endurance and perseverance to stay the entire summer which was no small task. By His strength alone, I finished the calling God originally placed on my heart two years prior.
Through it all, God hears our prayers. I learned to pray at all times of the day and it had such a positive impact on my faith and trust in the Lord. A new exercise that I would recommend is sitting in silence for a while either before or after prayer. For me, this gave me time to actively listen to the Lord’s voice. Prayer is such a powerful tool for us as Christians, beginning to pray and then seeing how God answers those prayers is amazing. No matter the prayer, I encourage each of you to continue praying for long and short-term prayer requests and prayers for Thanksgiving in reply. We need to be active about prayer and, especially, thanking the Lord for how much he has blessed us and heard our prayers.
Sweet brother and sister in Christ, you must remember that through the thick and thin, God is with us no matter what.
Photo by Olivia McDaniel