The Word of God is Living and Active - Part 2

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

~Galatians 2:20
Spending time with the Lord at the base of Temple Peak in the Wind Rivers.

I was speaking at a youth group the other night & was asked to speak on what surrender looks like in my life these days. I have heard all kinds of comments as I tell people I am moving to Swaziland, many of which are focusing on what a big decision it is. As I prepared for it, I realized that in all reality, the decision to move to Africa isn't nearly as big as a decision I made 13 years ago when I made the decision to follow Christ & surrender my life (past, present & future) to Him. Corrie Ten Boom once said, "Never be afraid to surrender an unknown future to a known God." As I grew to know who I was surrendering to, it made surrendering a whole lot easier (but still a struggle for one who likes to be in control!) So more than a huge decision to move to Swaziland, this season is more about the next step in a life of surrendering one step & day at a time.
It was during that early season of my life with Christ that God spoke to me through Galatians 2:20...beginning to teach me that the life I live here on earth is not my own, but Christ is living in me. The life (and plans of being a college basketball player, then pediatrician & NFL wife) that I had planned for myself was crucified. But Christ is living in me! I still don't totally get this - that Christ, who is holding all things together as I write this (Colossians 1:15-17), lives in me.
As this new reality began to grow in my life, I began to understand God's sovereignty in a whole new way, and started taking steps towards surrendering my daily life (my struggles, hopes, dreams, plans, relationships, failures, identity, gifts, skills, possessions) to God and watching His will come to pass in each of those areas.
Every morning, as I thank God for another day of life and for His new mercies...I remind myself that the old Erica was crucified with Christ...and that Christ now lives in me, leading me through this day.

The Word of God is Living and Active - Part 1

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
~Hebrews 4:12

I remember the first time I really started reading my Bible...and realizing that God still speaks through His word today. I was overwhelmed, not sure how I had grown up in church my whole life & never realized that the God of the universe chose to reveal Himself to us...not only through creation, through history, but through His word! Over 1600 years, He used several authors to write down His message to us about Himself. And as I have looked back through my 10+ years of journaling, I am humbled by the ways that He has revealed Himself to me, shaped me, convicted me and led me to today. It is humbling to look back through Bibles of mine & see dates where He spoke specifically through a verse or fulfilled a promise!Spending time with the Lord in Gokyo, Nepal with Cho Oyu in the distance.

There have been several specific verses & seasons where God has used a passage to shape & direct me toward moving to Swaziland full time. Some of these have been specific to Swaziland, and some have been influential in shaping my ministry life. So over the next several posts, I am going to share these with you so that you can see how He still speaks today!

(**Disclaimer...there have been many other verses He has used as well to shape my heart, but these posts will focus on those that have led me down this call to full time ministry in Swaziland. Also, I know that many of these are taken out of context, but many times the same verse or phrase would come up in several places in my life as I was wrestling through an area!)

Utterly Abandoned To Him

"Will you go to His feet and place yourself entirely at His disposal?"
- William Booth

"I had utterly abandoned myself to Him. Could any choice be as wonderful as His will? Could any place be safer than the center of His will? Did not he assure me by His very presence that His thoughts toward us are good, and not evil? Death to my own plans and desires was almost deliriously delightful. Everything was laid at His nail-scarred feet, life or death, health or illness, appreciation by others or misunderstanding, success or failure as measured by human standards. Only He himself mattered."
- V. Raymond Edman

To Be One In The Crowd

"When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe." (Matthew 9:8)

I can't even imagine being one of the disciples. The thought of traveling with Jesus, eating with Jesus and hanging out with Jesus is so overwhelming. But one of the best things would be to see the people flock to Him as we approach each city. And to see the look of compassion in His eye as some bring their friends to Him - so that He can heal him, restore them, free them, forgive them. They know Him, and the love and power that He possesses. To be one in the crowd; a witness to the Lord of the universe miraculously healing His broken children.
To be one in the crowd of ministry is humbling and overwhelming - watching as people congregate, bringing their friends, their neighbors, their family members. In ten years of ministry, I am overwhelmed as I watch God use someone to draw their friends & family to Himself. Sometimes the people have been going to church their whole lives and God is moving in a new way in their friends or family...sometimes the people have been there for a week & invite a friend to come with them the next week. But they each have a hunger in their hearts - not all of them are aware of why they are there, but He knows. God has seen them at home, in their daily lives and relationships, in their workplaces and their hobbies. And He knows their deepest needs, fears, and dreams. In fact, He knows them more intimately than they know themselves. And He has chosen this place, these people, to draw His children back to Himself. To make them whole once again. To reveal more of Himself so that they can go back into their worlds and share the great news about this One who has drawn them back to what they were created for. To be in ministry is to be in the crowd. Watching Jesus draw people to His love. To watch as He pursues them and teaches them and grows them. To watch as they flock to His arms and His love - sometimes not even knowing why they are there. And to watch as they come running back to Him time and time again with their friends & family at their sides - eager to introduce them to Jesus, the reason the crowd has gathered. To be one in the crowd of ministry is a humbling experience that will never grow old.

Along For The Journey

I knew that I would start blogging (hopefully somewhat regularly, but realistically every so often) once I got back to Swaziland. But as I was talking with a friend recently, I realized that God is revealing Himself as much in the journey of bringing me over to Swaziland as He will once I get there.
Philippians 1:6 is one of the best promises but most frustrating verses in all of Scripture - Paul’s promise that God’s working on us won’t be completed until the day of Christ Jesus is the source of comfort and joy every day. Yet it is also a reminder that we will not arrive until the day we meet Him face to face. All of life is lived along a journey, so why do we focus so much on the results? Look at how much God shaped the Israelites as they were journeying to the promised land, how He shaped Paul while he was on his journey to Damascus, and so many others!As I have been on this journey of discerning & responding to God’s call on my life to serve Him full time in Swaziland, I have been amazed, humbled & awed along the way - by the details He brings together as only He can, the ways He changes my heart to respond to His promptings. The control freak in me wants to know the end result so that I can help along the way (like I can actually help!), but I know that it's along the journey that I am becoming who God made me to be.
I have said more than once throughout this journey that I wish there was a manual for discerning this call and walking it out obediently, but there isn’t. My prayer is that by sharing this journey with you, God might use it to nudge you along in the call that He has on your life as you go along your journey...