My apologies for getting so behind on blogging, but God has been keeping me tremendously busy lately! Instead of doing multiple entries for each circumstance I have been placed in over the past five weeks, I’d like to focus on one particular theme that continues to resonate with me.
1 Timothy 4:12 says, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”
This past summer was a time of spiritual growth in my life that completely changed me. The first month was a dry season. I had a hardened heart and there was an extreme abandonment of all that God had done in my life. The next month was an awakening. God abruptly caught my attention. I opened my eyes, placed them on Him, and asked for continual rain through my repentance. The month following that, is what I appropriately call, the harvest. This is the part I’d like to focus on because it is still occurring.
After rededicating my life to Christ on June 7, I fervently prayed for God to make a way for me to be baptized. The church I had in mind required that you fill out a request form the month before the date you would like to be baptized. By that point I would be returning to college and would have to wait until fall break or Christmas time. I didn’t want it this way. I was insistent on it being before I went back to school. It was important to me that I went into the new semester with a strong proclamation on where I stood in my faith. Sure enough, on August 6, I walked into church and found out they were presenting us all with the opportunity to be spontaneously baptized. For me, it was anything but spontaneous. God knew my heart and my desire for taking this step in my faith, and He answered my prayer.
The following day, I was off to Durham for a week of student leadership training at Harvest Institute (the name couldn’t be more accurate). I had made the decision to go about a month or so before and had no idea what God was going to do in my life that week. The timing could not have been better; right after my baptism and right before leaving to go back to school. One night I stayed up late after a long day of hearing some awesome lectures and I talked to my friends Sarah and Kathleen. I shared with them how passionate I felt about connecting with others and building relationships. I explained that God has taught me, just because I am the youngest in my family as well as among many of my friends, I am not any less significant. I continued on by sharing the verse from 1 Timothy. The next day I received prophetic words from three of the leaders at HI that completely blew me away. They told me that God was going to use my personality to reach out to others and be a witness to them, but not only that. One man gave me the verse, 1 Timothy 4:12! God reassured me in that moment that all of the desires that are on my heart were placed there by Him and that He is going to use those desires for His glory. It was such a blessing to receive confirmation from the one who created me. That was one of the MANY memorable experiences that took place that week. I could write pages on the things that transpired during my time at Harvest, so if you want to hear more about it, let’s do lunch!
All in all, the past few months were a time for me to be challenged and pursued by God in a new way. My faith, my beliefs, my convictions, and my walk are all mine to carry out. Regardless of my age, I am accountable for the decisions I make and they are no one else’s but my own when it comes to answering to God. Now that I recognize that, I am constantly in His favor and I am continuing to be in this harvest season.
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