Alive in This Moment

As the group prepared to leave for Mexico, they said a prayer asking God to move in their hearts and lives. They asked for unity and later, for Him to do a new work. And guess what? As they walked through their week together, God gave them each and every one of these things. The group loved each other without arguing or bickering. Lifelong friendships were forged. Five Mexicans came to know Christ. God gave each of them direction in the next steps of their lives. However, there is one story, my story, which I want to share with you now…

I cannot begin to explain the joy that God has given me! There have been many times in the past where God has given me the opportunity to be obedient, and He has blessed me. But unlike any other, this opportunity of obedience took me beyond anything I could have ever imagined…

God called me out. I was sitting at a kitchen table in Parras, Mexico with three friends, two of which are really turning the corner [so to speak] in their relationships with Christ and the other who is one of my best friends in the world. She and I got to share and pour into those two guys in a supernatural way. We shared about future, about next steps, about purpose, and lots of other stuff that I don’t even remember because it wasn’t my own [Holy Spirit]. I got to pray with them as well as help them forge a friendship. It was amazing, it was everything [so I thought] that I could have ever wanted from the trip. As I was lying in bed following all of that excitement I heard the Lord speak to me. Now it wasn’t audible, but it was as clear as anything I have ever heard in my entire life. He said That’s what you’re going to do with the rest of your life. Needless to say, I was floored. God wants me to be in the ministry! You see, I’ve been planning law school and life and success. But God has a different plan for me…

The next morning, God gave me [believe it or not, through a t-shirt] Proverbs 16:9 which reads:

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

All of the things I have been doing have been preparing me for something totally different than I thought they were. Yet looking back I can see where He was preparing me for His ministry, especially in the last two years:

--I left Southern Miss [a place I loved] for Mississippi College [a place I hated]

--I started a job here at MC with a college pastor as a boss

--I have had the opportunity to go on numerous mission trips

--I have been able to teach 6^th grade Sunday School

--I became an R.A., which is an awesome ministry position

--My boss for the R.A. job is called to foreign missions in China

--The relationships I’ve had with others have taught me so much about my walk

But anyway, after God gave me that verse, the man leading our trip, Archie, gave the morning devotional. Everything he spoke about was everything the four of us at the kitchen table had talked about. We looked at each other in disbelief, wondering if he had secretly sat in on our unplanned meeting [he hadn’t]. As he drew towards the end of his lesson, he asked us to turn to Proverbs, and I knew where he was going: Chapter 16, verse 9. As if I needed more confirmation, he ended the lesson with something to the effect of this: when God gives you a word, He isn’t going to back out on it. So run with it. Ok God, I’ll do it.

So I come here today, humbled in the presence of a God so great that He take someone like me and use them for His purposes and passions. All I can say is that I have just hopped on the greatest roller coaster anyone could ever ride, believing in faith that God will give me my next step, as He has done so clearly in the last couple of weeks.

The moral of my story: be obedient. By the power of Christ in me, I was able to be obedient to the things He called me to do before, during, and after the trip. And because of that obedience, He has revealed to me the calling and passion for my life. Just allow Him to direct your steps, and I promise you He will.

--Matt

You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known. >>Isaiah 48:6