[Katie Davis]
Every time I feel I am at a good place with God, I remember. At the throne of Christ,
I come to Him broken, weak, hurting, flawed, desperate, dirty. All is level ground at the foot of the cross.
I can always do more no matter how comfortable everybody around me seems with safe, easy lives. I can withstand opposition or going it on my own because I want more.
I will seek Him harder, run faster in His name, and pour love deeper into the dry roots of this world and never stop looking to Him.
Reading "Kisses for Katie" about a girl named Katie Davis, I am in awe.
I am in complete awe of the wonder of Jesus' love pouring out of the heart of an eighteen year old to touch and transform the lives of so many. She is the same age as me and yet, Jesus still called her to change a small corner of the world in His name.
Adopting 13 little children and establishing a ministry, Amazima, she provides an education and food to hundreds while teaching them the love of Christ. Taking in the lost, the broken, the hungry, the sick, the destitute, she lives out the Gospel in real tangible ways. She gives them something to drink, something to eat, but beyond that she unconditionally loves with all that she has doing all of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, pointing them straight to His heart as the reason.
Katie demonstrates a branch of the radical life of powerful, transformative love in Christ that we're called to live as we walk in our own faith. As a believer and follower of God, this inspires me to look at this life with the many gifts that I have been entrusted with to bless others beyond myself with my love [Luke 12:48].
In the past 6 months of my life, God has shown me the tremendous power that we carry through the spirit of Christ.
2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and self-discipline."
When I first began trying to understand this verse, I narrowly applied it to small, insignificant areas of my life like dating, friendship, and my self-confidence. Not to say these things don't carry any weight, but God wanted me to see more. I was merely scraping the surface of what God was trying to teach me and His lesson stretched much farther than just me.
For so long, I lived my life waiting for earthly things to fill me up.
Middle school, I waited. High school, I waited. And entering into college, I found myself at a stand still awaiting someone to press the play button on my life, I anxiously held my breath in anticipation of the "beginning".
I thought that all this time of waiting was God preparing me for my time to shine (Haha).
The time where I would be in my element with people just like me, the empty holes in my life finally filled to the brim. I thought that through various people and experiences, God was simply teaching me the importance of patience and making best use of my time in college as I waited for Him to bless me some more...and that was were I went wrong.
[ Of the many amazing things that God is,
He is not simple. ]
As my eyes slowly adjusted to the new Light in my life, my heart began to grasp the deeper plan I'm meant for. The one I have been called out for.
Luke 1:38 says, "Behold, I am a servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word."
Sitting here on Christmas, I have realized something.
When I limit myself and my influence on this world, I limit God.
God has been teaching me all along how to grow into a true friend, a daughter, and a student...but at the core of my identity is a different role.
A servant of the Lord.
Although there are different roles that I play in my life, this is the basis of my life that all others move around.
Being a friend, daughter, and student are merely a piece of who I am but God has created me to be more than this. He has given me the gift of light in my life so that I can be more.
He has shaped my heart to be on fire for the cause of His kingdom and not in pursuit of a society focused on furthering the beauty of its own reflection and acquiring more stuff. I have been ignited to live for so much more.
Katie Davis writes, "When I imagine God creating each one of us and planting a purpose deep in our hearts, I never imagined that purpose being mediocrity."
I believe that God has blessed me to bring light into the lives of my loved ones but something inside of my soul aches for something beyond this, my divine purpose to bring a part of His kingdom on this Earth. I want to live out my faith in ways that reach farther, stronger, deeper, drawing on the power of Christ to display His love for the world.
I have been born into this world with only one name written on my soul.
Jesus Christ.
Passion and love for His name explodes out of my heart and I want everyone to know the love of the One whose grace and mercy is transformative. Longingly, I have gazed at people throughout history or in our society who have led these courageous lives, taking blind steps of faith towards something they believe in and transforming areas of darkness in our world like I desire to.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Mother Theresa
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I look at them sometimes and think: Wow. How amazing and courageous these people were.
Reading Katie's amazing and humbling story, I see the error in that when I am reminded of how standing a part from Christ, we are dirt. He is the only One who makes our brokenness into something beautiful and gives us the courage. There is nothing we could possibly do that would bring us closer to Him no matter how many people we reach in this life. Even these people whose lives screamed of courage and Christ's love. We are nothing without Him.
All of these people had one thing that moved their hearts to action, that made them courageous and that was Jesus Christ.
Jesus bridges the gap as we put our complete faith in Him. He makes us courageous, compassionate, loving, generous, and good. We are made in the image of Him. He is what makes us into more.
In a journal entry, Katie writes this:
"You are Peter. God already knows that you will make a mess but His plan for you is great. Go. Feed his sheep."
He knows who we are, yet He lifts us up out of the dirt. Just as Katie Davis is able to lift a poor and desperate child of Uganda from the red dirt into her arms, God does the same for us.
Psalm 40:2
[He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.]
My love for You is too great to be kept inside. Jeremiah 20:9 says, "...his word is in my heart like a burning fire, shut up in my bones, I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot."
You have made me into more and so I will seek that plan Lord. I will look for that passion that will bring justice. I will be a shepherd for Your children using and spreading the gifts You've entrusted me with. There are too many walking without You and crying out for You to waste this life on myself when You call me to lay down my life to follow You home.
One day I will come upon that broken area of this world whether in my hometown or on the other side of this world that will send me to my knees and break my heart like it so breaks Yours. You will awake my soul in that hour and bring me off my knees to stand before You in the light to show me the way.
Through You, I will be more.
"Let me not be blind with privilege
Give me eyes to see the pain
Let the blessing You've poured out on me
Not be spent on me in vain
Let this life be used for change
I wanna live for you
Go where you lead me
I wanna follow you"
PLEASE check out Katie Davis' organization called Amazima. It is absolutely amazing the way she is shining Christ's light in Uganda in what she is doing and has done there in the past four years. Donate to Amazima or purchase a hand-crafted necklace made by a women's group in Uganda that has lifted them out of prostitution, alcoholism, and a life without God into hope.
The site is ---> http://amazima.org/
Read "Kisses for Katie". I promise you that you will be challenged to think about your own life and what God is calling you to beyond your comfort zone. You have the power of Christ, now go do something about it :)
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