I know I've shared my thoughts about the word awesome with some of you. It's an adjective I've been desperately trying to reserve for God alone. It formerly was a word I sprinkled in almost every sentence, but now that I have tried to limit its use entirely, it has so much power when I do use it. In sharing this with you, I realize that I have now opened myself up to some accountability if you hear me use it in any other context :)
Today, as I continue to sit in what God has done and taught me the past few days, the only word I can use to describe Him is awesome.
I know I've already talked about how God decided to unite a bunch of Nebraska girls together in New York. But, that's not all He did. He also decided that the only way for me and one of my aunts (who lives 3 miles down the road from me) to get together to talk would be to place us on the same flights to and from New York - without either of us knowing we would even be traveling there. I can't believe in coincidences when I have a God who plans things so perfectly. Without going into too much detail, let me just say I am so thankful for last night's flight from La Guardia Airport to Eppley Airfield. What a blessing it was to share intimately with each other.
After three days spent in close community with Godly women pursuing God with all their hearts, I feel so refreshed. I am constantly thankful for the surroundings God continues to put me in. In Omaha, I am surrounded by women who love Jesus. In New York, I was surrounded by women who love Jesus and have a similar calling for Africa at this point in their lives. God's world is either very interconnected or extremely small. Either way, I know and continue to meet the most amazing women in the world.
God has been challenging me to pray with faith and with confidence. Despite the many highlights and fun parts of the New York trip, the most powerful thing I was reminded of was that when I add Jesus to things, things will happen. When I pray, I should expect a change. So many times we fail to pray with confidence because we doubt that God will show up. And, what would that mean for us? That we are foolish. Our fear holds us captive and keeps us from experiencing the power of God.
At Relevant Community Church last Sunday we talked about how despite the fact that we are free from sin because of what Christ did for us, so many of us choose to live in self-imposed bondage. I think this same concept applies to our "wishing-well" view of prayer and once again I was challenged this week with it. Although we have power and authority in Christ and it is biblical that if we "we ask anything according to his will; he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him," we don't ask. We are paralyzed with fear that God - yes, the God of the universe - won't show up. Oh, but think about if He did show up. If we prayed prayers with confidence that God was going to do the things we asked. What would our lives look like then? How would our relationships be changed? How would our ministries be affected? Wow. With this re-energized mindset I'm excited to see how God responds to my prayers. I challenge you to pray, too!
He's awesome. And, leaves me standing in awe and wonder of Him. I hope that we have not too quickly forgotten that our God is an awesome God.
Other things I learned in New York or just made me smile:
- The only happy people in New York are tourists.
- Despite popular belief, the twin towers have not been rebuilt.
- If you're lost, look confident-and even then people still know you're lost.
- In Nebraska, things get quieter, slower, and less popular the later it gets. New York City is the opposite.
- You only press the "stop" button on the city bus if you want off on a stop that isn't the bus's final destination.
- No, you can not be in a street-filmed commercial, so don't ask.
