First,
I learned (once again) that God is bigger than ANYTHING satan throws at me! I
knew that when I said “yes” back in January to leading worship at this Revival,
satan would try all of his little tricks that he uses to buffet me. (I had to use that word buffet, just look at
the definition!)
buf·fet =
VERB
(especially
of wind or waves) strike repeatedly and violently; batter; knock (someone) over or off course; (of misfortunes or difficulties)
afflict or harm (someone) repeatedly or over a long period.
I know that God has given me a gift that He wants me to
use for His glory. I also know that
satan doesn’t want me to use said gift for God’s glory. Therefore, there is
always a battle. Even after everything
that was thrown at me over the last couple of weeks, I felt stronger leading
worship last night than ever before...and this is why…because it was all of
Jesus and none of me. When I let go and
let Him take over, He always comes through.
May I never, ever forget that.
The second thing that I learned was this: It is so important to show up for those that
we love. To have the support of my friends, family and church family means
everything to me. I am so thankful for
those in my circle that I can always depend on.
I pray that I never take that for granted and that I can be a person
that always shows up for the ones I love.
Finally, I learned from the amazing message that Bro.
Flowers brought. So many things spoke to
me, but something he said at the end really resonated with my soul. He told a story of a man named William Borden.
(If you get a chance, read his story. He was an amazing man of faith that
accomplished some great things in his very short life.) As the story goes, at the end of Mr. Borden’s
life these words were found written in his bible; no reserves, no retreats, no
regrets. I could say so much about these
three things, and maybe I will at a later date, but here is a synopsis of what
I got:
1) no reserves – I work at a job where it is very
important that we keep a set amount of money in reserves in case our funding is
cut and we need to be able to continue operations, so the word “reserves” is
something I am very familiar with. To
me, having no reserves in life means that I will hold nothing back. I will give everything that I have. This reminds me of a quote I once saw by Erma
Bombeck, “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would
hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used
everything you gave me'.”
2) no retreats – in
battle, to retreat would be to withdraw from enemy forces that are coming
against you when you feel you have been defeated. If I withdraw every time I feel satan coming
against me, I will NEVER do anything for God.
But, if I take the stance of NO RETREATS, I am saying that I will not
step back or quit what I am called to do.
3) no regrets – I already
have many regrets in life from things I did in my younger years, but I know
that God works ALL THINGS together for good and He can use whatever I bring to
Him for His purposes. I pray from this
day forward, I can live a life that is pleasing to Him and always points others
to Jesus. I don’t want to regret missed opportunities. I want to be what God needs me to be for my
family, my church, my friends and my co-workers. I have a long way to go, but if I start now,
I will get there a lot quicker!
Just a few thoughts for
today…I hope it touches and inspires someone the same as it did for me.
