The Honor of Being Invited In

I can’t help but think of what an honor it is to follow God, the One who created all things and is constantly revealing Himself through creation, speaking to us, and died to save us even when we were sinners.

Last week I went with the World Race Gap Year to Florida where we helped restore homes that were destroyed by hurricane Ian in 2022. By day we restored homes, but by night we were in the business of partnering with God to restore people’s lives. 

On Thursday night, the racers and I were worshipping on the beach. I was prompted to ask God how He wanted me to worship. In that moment, I felt Him say, “Stay in my presence”, so I did. I felt that my heart was seen in that moment and He was taking care of my need to be with Him. A few minutes go by and I hear His voice again saying, “Go to the water, and let me wash your feet.” It sounded so refreshing to put my feet in the water, so I went. The sun was setting at this point and I was overtaken by the fact that I got to be worshipping God while being in awe of His creation. Then I realize that the Lord was speaking to me to go talk to a lady sitting on the beach next to me. I tell God that I don’t know what to say, and he responds with, “Tell her to trust me. She wants to trust me but doesn’t know how.” I respond again trying to discredit what I know or have learned with, “What do I know about trust?” But God, knowing exactly what He was doing, told me that I knew that He is so worthy of trust. 

So I go tap the lady on the shoulder and ask her her name and what brought her to the area. She tells me and in traditional conversational fashion asks me the same, and I explain the World Race. I get the sense that she is a Christian and she confirms it, so I decide it was time to talk to her about what the Lord was saying to me about her. It felt like a shot in the dark, and I was hoping that I did not just making something up in my head, but I go for it anyway. I ask if she is having a hard time trusting God, and she boldly says yes! Both she and I are semi shocked that I knew that, but both know it was only by the power and knowledge of the Holy Spirit. She begins to share her whole life story with me and I feel so honored that she would trust me with such a thing. She shares through tears that she was a victim of manipulation, drugs, sexual abuse, and suicide, but God has changed her life around. Even so, she has a son who she is not allowed to see due to being in recovery for all the things of her past. She shared that she wanted to trust God in this but did not know how as it is something that she is badly longing for. Her story broke my heart yet was such an encouragement to how God restores lives. After she shared I begin to encourage her. To be honest, I don’t even know what I said, but I trust that the Holy Spirit said what was on His mind as she continued to cry her heart out. By the end of the conversation, she was encouraging me and wanted to pray for me and I for her. 

Jesus saw her on that night. Jesus sees her every night. My faith was built up in hearing her story, praying for her, and simply in the fact that I got confirmation that everything I thought was spoken from God really was from Him. It is all by the power of Jesus, and I feel honored that He would chose to invite me in. 

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.