Whatever has been going on at Asbury the past couple of weeks – whether you call it a “revival”, “awakening”, or “outpouring”, we all seem to agree that we have witnessed an incredibly powerful move of The Holy Spirit that has started in Wilmore and continued to spark on other colllege campuses, churches, and many places throughout the world. What we have seen here in Wilmore has been both exciting and powerful and also intimate and personal. The Holy Spirit has been present speaking in large rooms filled with people, and he has also moved in the hearts of individuals as they have earnestly sought him, some coming up to the altar to receive prayer to be set free from things that they have been bound to for years.
The Holy Spirit is loud and mighty like a rushing wind, but yet he is also quiet. He will move in ways that are indescribeably powerful, yet he will also fill your heart with a peace that surpasses all understanding in a quiet, soft, and gentle way. Yet, when he moves in such a quiet way in your life, you can’t help but want to be loud about it. You can’t help but long for others to be moved in that same way by the Holy Spirit’s power, to be set free from anything that is holding them back from complete freedom, peace, and joy in their minds and hearts. When you receive a touch of the Holy Spirit in your life and in your situation, you can’t help but want to tell others about it. You can’t help but getting excited. And that, my friends, is where I am right now in this moment.
The Holy Spirit has moved in a very powerful and yet very soft and intimate way in my own life. I went to this outpouring at Asbury not knowing what I was searching for or why I was going, all I knew is that I needed to be there. All I knew is that from that first moment I arrived in Hughes Auditorium on February 9th, that God was trying to show me something. Possibly many things. I wasn’t sure what or how God was going to speak to me, but I knew he would. I could feel his presence so powerfully, not just inside the building of Hughes Auditorium, but all around Wilmore – both in the overflow buildings that were opened up as spaces for the outpouring, as well as outside on the semi circle witnessing hundreds of volunteers (both within and outside the community of Wilmore) coming together to make sure people were warm, fed, and given the opportunity to hear and participate in the worship that was going on inside. What I witnessed and got to be a part of was a manifestation of the Kingdom of God, the family of God and body of believers coming together for one common purpose – to worship our one true king.
I know there have been many reflections and posts regarding the revival/outpouring at Asbury, and I praise God for that. I praise God for how he has moved in thousands of people’s lives these past couple of weeks, and hearing the individual stories of how God has moved within the hearts of his people has been so refreshing to my spirit. Those stories of how God has moved in the lives of others have been part of what has inspired me to share some things that God has placed on my own heart through this powerful encounter. Below are a few reflections on the things that God has been teaching me over these past several weeks:
- Life is a journey, and embrace the step you’re on. You can’t get to step 5 without going through steps 1 and 2.
- Forgiveness matters, and it is often an ongoing process throughout our lives. We surrender every day the hurts we have endured from others, and we also continually ask God to show us those who we have wronged so that we might ask for forgiveness from them. And, we can trust that God has called us to do our part by giving and asking for forgiveness, but we are not responsible for the other person’s response (see Romans 12:18).
- Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is ourselves. Even when other people have forgiven us, and even when we know God has forgiven us, we are still holding onto deep shame from things we have done in the past and it can be a real struggle to let go of that shame we have carried in our lives for years.
- Sometimes we need to forgive God. Not that God himself ever does anything wrong, but we have held grudges against God because he didn’t move in ways that we thought he should or because he allowed something to happen we thought he should have prevented. If we don’t deal with this anger we have developed towards God, it can grow into a deep bitterness of both God and of Christianity as a whole that is very, very dangerous. Don’t let yourself stay angry with God. Talk to him, and share your heart. Just read the Psalms – I promise God can take our anger and wants us to talk to him about it.
- The things we need healing from in our lives are not just the big and obvious things. Sometimes those big things are what bring us to our knees upon the altar, but it is not until we get there that we realize that that one hurt is only one of the many that we need healing from. It doesn’t matter how big or how small the hurt is, every hurt we carry is very, very real. And God cares about each one of them.
- Many of us are deeply hurt and our heart has been completely broken. A picture that God gave me to pray over many people during the revival is to picture your heart as a glass vase, one that has been shattered all over the floor. Then picture yourself standing with Jesus, slowly picking up all of those broken pieces of shattered glass. It is only because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and his Holy Spirit living within our hearts that we can have the strength to be able to forgive others, and Jesus is the one who is with us through all of the hurt and the pain that we feel, helping us heal from those very deep hurts so that we can be made whole again. And it is important to remember that while Jesus does help us put each individual piece of our broken heart back together, when we do heal from those wounds, it will never be as if we were never hurt. We do forgive, but we very rarely forget. But the beautiful thing about that is that God will use each individual broken piece of your heart as a battle scar that will help others who have also walked through pain, often a pain that is deeply similar to that which you have walked through.
- In that picture of the broken vase and shattered glass that God showed to me, he reminded me that the glue that holds those broken pieces back together is forgiveness. Forgiveness of those who have hurt us, asking forgiveness from those whom we have hurt, forgiving ourselves for past mistakes we have made and finally being free from carrying such deep shame from those mistakes; and forgiving God for any anger, bitterness, or hardness of heart that we have developed towards him for not showing up in ways that we thought he should, and forgiving him for not answering our prayers in the ways we so badly wanted them to be answered.
- I’m 25. And I’m single. And that’s okay. And I can truly and genuinely be content in this season of singleness that God has me in right now. And there is absolutely nothing on this planet that matters more than following God and surrendering to his plan for my life.
- I can let go of the expectations of others, and trust in the fact that if I am truly trying to please God, I will be living in a way that honors others as according to his Word, but I do not have to be held bound or captive to expectations of other people. If I am being obediant to Christ, I will love and honor others, but the one person I am living according to and following the steps of IS our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and if someone judges me for that or has a problem with it, then so be it. That’s okay because I know who I am, I know WHOSE I am, and I know that God knows my heart.
I know I don’t know you, and I don’t know your life story, but it is my prayer that this post can be an encouragement to you in your own spiritual journey.
I pray that you have courage to forgive and courage to go to God with your hurts. I pray that you walk in complete and total humility, recognizing that it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit living within our hearts that we have the strength to forgive others and can be forgiven ourselves.
I pray that you are able to let go of shame you have been carrying in your life, possibly for many, many years.
I pray that you allow yourself to finally talk to God about the anger and hardness of heart you have developed against him. I pray that you surrender your desire to know and understand everything, and allow yourself to trust that what God has planned for you is ALWAYS good, even if everything that happens to you is not.
I pray for restored relationships and reconciliation when and where possible. I pray that others receive your forgiveness, and that if and when they don’t, you can STILL trust that you did your part by admitting and confessing where you have been wrong.
Most of all, I pray that your trust, your worth, and your identity, is found in God alone. I pray that you recognize the profound, amazing love that God has for you as his son or as his daughter, and that no matter what has happened to you, no matter what you have done, and no matter the hurts you have been carrying, you CAN live a life of joy and be set free of the things that have held you captive in your life for so long.
P.S. The photo in this post was taken on a hike I went on recently with a dear friend, and being on that hike has been another part of what has inspired me to share what God has been speaking to me recently, so I thought it would be fitting to add a photo from that hike on this post. 🙂
Romans 12:17-18: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone”, (NIV).
Galatians 5:13-14: “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself”, (NLT).
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