"Won't you be My love"

"Won't you be My voice calling, won't you be My hands healing, won't you be My feet walking into a broken world..."-Mercyme
For so long I thought I could get away from it.
I thought I could live my life with decent morals and get by just fine...

You want to know the truth? You can get by just fine...but do you want to?

Or would you rather live the fearless Christian life God calls us to that allows the treasure inside of you to light the flame of another?

In "Embracing the Love of God", Smith says something that really got me when I read it.

It explained how giving away the treasure of Love that the Lord has bestowed on you doesn't diminish what is within you, but allows it to grow.  Being a very selfish person sometimes I had a hard time understanding this until I really took it to heart.

For so long, I have dwelled inside the warm lights of my own home and have shuddered at the thought of following a prompting from God.  This entire summer He had been poking and prodding me to give in to what He wished for me.  Songs, messages at church, studies at the Plunge, and books I read all pointed me towards these two things I knew deep down I was supposed to do...and finally I couldn't ignore the blaring signals anymore.

Soo I listened to Him.  The result...
The Lord is beyond amazing.  The first prompting I followed through with is something that had been eating away at me for some time and I wanted it to be resolved so badly...but I was relying on my own strength, my own way of thinking. 

Giving forgiveness to this person has restored a better sense of peace in my heart and an understanding of the amazing things God could do in my life if I just let Him lead me completely.  It can be so scary to surrender your will to something out of your sight, but I promise you there is nothing like it in this world.

I can't even begin to understand how He weaves our brokenness into healing and peace because the end result is something I never would have pictured...but then again that's God for you.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways My ways,”
            declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are My ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.
(Isaiah 55:8-9)

The second prompting I have always wanted to do, but have been to afraid to do it on my own.  This summer has really spurred me to serve God out of Love and thankfulness for what I have because He has blessed me in more ways than I can count.  The Lord has visibly shown up in my life, begun the process of turning my heart around and has ignited a new understanding of this life through different eyes.  God has shown me to view every day as an opportunity to live out the Love he plants in each of our lives.  He gives us time as a gift to explore the deep Love in our lives, to let it flourish.

James Bryan Smith says,
"We were created because we were loved, we were created so that we could experience that love and we were created so that we could be a symbol of that Love."

So why are you waiting?  If God has written something into your story, don't hesitate to live out that love.  He gives you signs so that you can trust Him and show others the beauty God has given you personally.  You have no idea what tomorrow could bring.  The only guarantee we have is this very moment.  Death is the only thing separating us from Him and when you live your life following His light, it can blossom into something greater than our wildest imagination. 

At a concert recently for Taylor Swift, the beginning of her concert included an intro revolving around the idea of "Speak Now" and it really hit me then.

Life is fleeting.  We write of the times when we know we need to say something.  When we need to forgive and release a weight of the past. When we need to apologize.  When we feel prompted to say "I love you". When God so clearly whispers to us to serve those who are crying out for help and for Love.

The reason is that we are Afraid.  In our heart of hearts, our fear can dictate how we live.  Fear of what people think is something I have struggled with for many years and still deal with. 
But tell me this,
"...if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?"

The answer...
Nothing in this world can stop you.  There is nothing holding you back from leading the life God desires for you...except YOU.  God is so much greater than any person or group that shoves you down and says you can't.
You stand in the way of surrender by the walls of fear you build that strike away the God-given courage waiting for you on the other side. 

We have been asked to be a symbol of Love in this short life and my challenge for you is to follow through with something big or small that God has sketched in your mind.  Regret for things you don't do is far greater than what you do.  It is very painful to let God-given opportunities slip right through our fingers because of the stone-cold fear that freezes our courage.

Don't ever doubt the power you have as an individual to show God's love in your relationships, with strangers on the street, weaving through the hallways of school or in the way you carry yourself for others to see. You have a reason and that reason is Love.  God has prepared a well-lit way for you to walk in with Him all the days of your life.

"Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you" -Matthew 11:10