How God directs our lives (part 2)

I had intended to continue this topic with another story early on in my faith, but I think that talking about what God has been doing to me recently is far more interesting and relevant. If you remember from part 1, I talked about Outside Influences and how God uses things around you. In this post, I want to speak about God moving from within.


To preface this story, you need to know a little bit about my life a year ago. I was still in college at Clemson University, getting ready to graduate after my third senior year (yeah, another story for another time). I was serving at Newspring Church in Anderson, SC and was absolutely loving every minute of it. You see, Newspring was the church I dedicated my life to Christ in. It was the church I grew up in. The first church I ever went to that was fun. After one particularly awesome Sunday, I told God I never wanted to leave this place. In fact, I had already made future plans so that I could stay in town.


About a year ago, I walked into church, sat on the right hand side, 4 rows back, and began to worship God. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head.



--You're not going to be here much longer



"Interesting", I said to myself. More interesting was how I took that thought. There was no nervousness, no fear, no arguing. Even stranger, there was no doubt. I just got that thought, and knew that it was true. That's what made it truly interesting.


You see, by that point in my life, God had already stripped away the girl I was dating at the time, the job that I intended to keep after I graduated, and the plans I had for the next 18 months of my life. I had suddenly found myself in a position of total loss, and amazingly enough, total freedom. I had the freedom to answer God's call in my life and to follow his direction.


It was hardly a surprise to me when a few months later, God gave me this burning passion to move to Charlotte. For the last 7 years I had lived only 2 hours away from Charlotte and never thought about it, never went to it, never cared about it. Suddenly, it was all I could think about, all I wanted, all I was looking forward to. I knew God had put it on my heart and I knew that it was the next step in my journey. I just had no idea why.


So I did what I had to, I moved to Charlotte after graduation. Two weeks later, I came back to Newspring for our youth trip to Panama City, Florida. Some day I will have to blog about what a stinking amazing experience that was!! I am so blessed to know the most amazing students and leaders on the planet!! For this story however, you just need to know that the week was one of the most amazing of my life in youth ministry, but it was the bus ride home that was truly interesting.

The way my life was about to unfold, we were going to arrive in the parking lot of Newspring Church and I was going to get in my car and drive to Charlotte for the last time. That night would be the last I had with my students and my friends as a volunteer of Newspring Church. I should have been depressed. I should have been torn up, doubting my decision to leave, clinging onto the relationships I had made. After all, I had nothing in Charlotte but a strange new city that I didn't know.


--If this is what I'm taking you from....... Imagine what I'm sending you to.



"Interesting".


I wasn't the least bit depressed. If anything, I was even more excited than ever! I couldn't even think straight the whole way home. I didn't know what God had before me, but I knew it was going to blow my mind to little bits. God had given me the most amazing send off I could have asked for. In his amazing power, he took a moment that should have been one of the saddest, and used it to fire me up like charcoal grill with 7 gallons of lighter fluid and 1 briquette.


And the really crazy thing is that he hasn't freaking stopped!! In the last three months he has been using the desires of my heart to direct my path. He is pumping me up to a level I never dreamed of, making me a bigger nut than ever. I can't sleep at night because all I can think about is the work he is calling me to. He has put me on a path and is moving my life forward at a speed that only He is capable of and I love it!

I pray that he never stops pulling at my heart. I pray that he never stops redirecting my desires so that He can direct my path. And I pray that He never stops blowing away the expectations I have.

How God Directs Our Lives (part 1)

What better way to start off my new blog than with a story of how God radically shaped my life early on in my walk. Of course, I'm certain God had many things to do with my life before this moment, but one of the coolest things about being a Christian is being able to recognize God at work, and this was the first time it really hit me.

I had been saved at a Clemson FCA event two years prior. Sadly, my life had little change to show for it. I knew that if I wanted to take another step towards Christ, I needed to get my butt to church. Thus, I began searching for a church in the area, or "church shopping" as my Southern Baptists friends informed me it was called.

At the time, I worked in the restauarnt industry with some amazing Christians. Several invited me to their church in Greenville, SC, which I of course accepted. The Sunday I attended, I was met with an odd dichotomy of classic church and contemporary worship. There I sat in a pew, surrounded by stained glass, listening to.....is that a guitar on stage?! And drums?! And is that college students wearing shorts and a T-shirt to church on a Sunday?! I mean, I know I haven't been to church in a while, but when the heck did this all change?

I wasn't really sure if it was "right", but I liked it. I liked it a lot. I learned a new word that Sunday, Worship "band". I knew that God was about to get exciting in my life, but I grossly underestimated just how much. I guess you can say my faith began a trend in that aspect, but that's a topic for a much latter time.

After the "band" was finished, the Pastor came out and preached a great message. I was really digging all of it. It felt fantastic to be around God and His word again. I wanted to wrap myself in it and learn more and more. The hunger that had plagued me for years was beginning to be satiated. Then my experience took a very unexpected turn.

At the very end of the sermon, the Pastor through the most vicious curve ball I had ever seen to this day. It went something roughly like this...

"Scientist are offending God by trying to clone human embryos. You know who wants to clone human embryos? The Homosexuals! That's who! They can't reproduce naturally, so they want to clone an army of Homosexuals to take over."

::blink:: Umm.....

Did that just happen? Surly I just totally missed something. I even turned around (keep in mind I was on the 2nd row) and looked at the rest of the congregation to see if anyone else caught that. I was hoping to see some pained or confused faces, but all I got was intent focus as if nothing out of the ordinary had just taken place. Suddenly, I was in the Twilight Zone.

Suffice it to say, I continued "church shopping" and the next week lead me to Newspring church on Easter Sunday. That was to be my home for the next four years of my walk, the place I was baptized, and the place where I made the commitment to live my life 100% in the name of Jesus Christ.

A few months later I asked my friends about the odd sermon, no one remembered it. The more I asked and thought about it, the more it became apparent that it was a section of the message devoted exclusively to me.

Later, I retold this story to some friends, and ended by saying, "If it wasn't for those 60 seconds, I probably would not have ended up at Newspring Church." Suddenly WHAMMO!! A ton of God bricks landed on my heart, and for the first time I saw how God was directing my life in the most spectacular way. I saw how God used a very public message to speak to me in a very personal way, and in his supreme power made it practically disappear to those around me.

God put a desire in my heart (to attend church), allowed me to step up and take an action (the wrong one), and acted within that decision to lead my down the right path. You see, I had been invited to Newspring months before, but refused to go because I didn't like the guy inviting me.

To me, this is a very powerful example of how God uses Outside Influences to direct our path. More on that topic next....