Amidst the mess of all my boxes, I just discovered my journal from the very first mission trip I was apart of, with YWAM LA, back when I was only 13 years old. My handwriting was terrible. But my notes and entries blew me away; God did mighty things in me in those two weeks. I found the following excerpt from the day after I heard God's call to ministry.
Father, at last night's lecture you gave me the chance to give you my heart, and life. Thank You. Do You know what? I'm very glad I took that chance. I no longer have to worry about my future, my will or my plans. I've heard Yours. I accept. I give You my heart, my soul, my past, my present and my future. Take them please. I am willing to give You my life, that it may be a blessing to others. You gave me a message last night, "Go ye into all the world and preach the good news," "To the ends of the earth." You have sent me and I will go, into all the world, preaching Your Good News! I find it so amazing that You would pick me to go into all the world. That you would fit me in to the Great Commission. That You have the time to look at me and say; here is where I want you and this is what you should be doing. Well Father it goes over my head. You want me! Please don't let me dissapoint You. May I make You proud. Thank You for choosing me! Amen.
Oh man, I wish I had that kind of clarity and certainty now! I was passionate, my thoughts were simple, I was naive. But I loved God, I had met Him, and I knew I would follow Him from that point on. I can remember that lecture. Not anything that was said, but where I sat and what that moment was like.
And I look back now, almost 10 years later, and wonder that God has indeed sent me into the ends of the earth, and called me into His work. That He has seen fit to use me. And I wonder, how much that decision and promise made to God, have shaped the course of my life. And if this is what He has done in the last 10 years, what will He lead me into in the next decade?
I marvel at my 13-year-old words and faith. And then I remember that I also saw fit to eat a bag of M&M Peanuts for breakfast each day of our trip. I was a bundle of maturity, and passion and childhood. Perhaps I still am. But He has seen fit use me!
And I look back now, almost 10 years later, and wonder that God has indeed sent me into the ends of the earth, and called me into His work. That He has seen fit to use me. And I wonder, how much that decision and promise made to God, have shaped the course of my life. And if this is what He has done in the last 10 years, what will He lead me into in the next decade?
I marvel at my 13-year-old words and faith. And then I remember that I also saw fit to eat a bag of M&M Peanuts for breakfast each day of our trip. I was a bundle of maturity, and passion and childhood. Perhaps I still am. But He has seen fit use me!
