Bible clubIn September of 2007, I boarded a plane headed for Chicago and a Journey to the Heart. It was there that God did a work in my heart that changed my life. He showed me just how fearful of a heart I had. I had a fear of what other people thought of me that would control my words and actions when I was around them. This became the controlling force of my life, rather than what God thought of me. The Lord helped me to see the severe consequences of having a fearful heart, and what a hindrance it was to being an effective soldier of Jesus Christ

One night, our team experienced intense spiritual warfare and we sensed that Satan was attacking us with fear. I got on my knees with the rest of my group and earnestly cried out to God to take away my fear. The amazing happened. I immediately felt a peace, a freedom, and a joy inside! I was thrilled! I felt so free from that bondage!

I did not at all expect the tremendous results that would come. In the days, months, and years that followed, God opened up so many opportunities to make an eternal impact in the lives of others. I was able to reach out to others and talk to them without fear of what they thought of me. It was incredible! I was free to do God’s will. Free to be used for His service. Free to obey the Holy Spirit’s promptings. It grieved me to see how, for so many years, my fear had hindered me from being used of God; from being an available vessel for Him. How many opportunities I must have missed to reach into the lives of others, all because of my fear of man.

Never would I have dreamed that exactly two years and one day after I attended the Journey, I would board a plane for Oklahoma to spend ten weeks making an impact in the lives of many children there. During our heart preparation at Eagle Springs, God again convicted me of my fear of man. I was challenged to live AUG – Approved Unto God. (See Proverbs 29:25, II Timothy 2:15.)

One day before Bible club, I noticed a girl sitting alone while everyone else was playing. Upon going over to talk to her, I asked what the best thing was that had happened to her that day. Without missing a beat, she said, “When the church people came.” (We would go door-to-door picking up the kids for club. This girl evidently viewed us as ‘church people’.) I was caught by surprise as I was certainly not expecting that as an answer! For some of the kids, we were their only hope of something better. We were the bright spot in their day. We were the ones that cared enough to love and reach out to them with the love of Christ. Had I had a fear of man, I would have pushed away the Holy Spirit’s prompting and would have lost an opportunity to share His love with this girl.

As I further talked with her, I discovered that she was rejected by her friends at school and was very hurt by that. I was able to share with her from personal experience how I had found a true Friend in Jesus. The very next week, this little girl was gloriously saved! Through all the training, the work, the loss of sleep, and inconveniences, nothing can be compared to the rewards of investing in these young lives. I can truly say it was worth it all!

SarahMy time in Oklahoma teaching truth in the public schools and doing after-school Bible clubs was a growing time and a stretching experience. When I stop relying on God and fail to look to Him alone for approval, I soon fear man rather than the Maker.

God is continuing to do a work in my heart. What I experienced on my Journey was not a one-time thing. It is an on-going process. My Maker is continuing to mold me and develop in me His perfect love that casts away all fear.

~ Sarah
September 2007 Journey

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If you are interested in an opportunity to invest in the lives of children, please send a quick note to Chad Christiansen.

    This entry was posted on Friday, February 19th, 2010 at 2:26 am and is filed under The Journey Continued. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.