“Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart.”
-Mother Teresa
-Mother Teresa
I just spent two weeks with some of the coolest people I have ever met. I had the privilege of being the “Impact Speaker” at the Lakeside for Youth camp on Lake Erie. I did not know what to expect but from the moment I arrived, I felt loved and welcomed. The kids worshipped, the adults gave of their time and heart and God showed up. The director of the camp, along with his family, has a heart for God that is so inspiring it makes me want to love God and others more deeply. The worship band, video and sound engineers became like a second family to me. There is something special about this little place on Lake Erie that was filled for a week at a time with hundreds of kids wanting to hear from God.
I prepared for weeks for my messages. I had the slides, created outlines, added pictures and graphics, worked in every story and analogy I could think of. But in the end, I asked one thing of God: “Please speak.” I knew the danger of trying to speak in my own power, of making it about me. God reminded me of that about a year ago after I spoke to a large group of people and had gotten great feedback on my talk. I was feeling quite good about myself when I heard God remind me, quietly, “You know I used a donkey to speak before, right?” (See Numbers 22:21-38)
Point taken.
So even in all my preparation for all my different daily messages, I continued to ask God for one thing: “Please speak.” I have never wanted to be less and God be more than those two weeks. Camp for me growing up was life changing and I can remember listening to a long line of great speakers who God used to speak directly to me and where I was in that moment. With that thought in mind, I was terrified of getting in the way of a moment for these kids to meeting God face to face because my own constructed messages and desire to be significant got in the way.
God began preparing the hearts of these kids in His own way. I could sense it during both the morning and evening sessions while we sang...God was beginning to move. I had not done any sort of official “altar call” after my talks. It is easy at camp to respond out of emotion or obligation. I truly wanted to allow God to speak directly to the kids- without prodding or persuasion from me. One night during worship, while we were singing, 2 girls found a leader and asked that same question that was asked of Jesus over 2000 years ago: What do I need to do to be saved? Real, true, authentic, and personal response to God’s voice. In 1 Kings 19 the Bible talks about Elijah waiting on God to reveal Himself. After wind, earthquakes and fire there was still no word from God. But then God showed up in the form of a whisper. From that, the floodgates opened and we were able to witness God speaking to hearts personally. It is easy for me to speak in the form of wind, earthquake or fire- being animated, loud, funny, passionate, whatever. But thankfully this time, He spoke. Not me. A whisper....not the wind, earthquake or fire.
On a personal note, the time at Lakeside was supposed to be about changing high school kids’ lives. I truly believe that happened- I know there are kids that came that will never, ever be the same again. However, my life changed. God spoke to me in a real, personal way that I have not experienced in quite sometime. I heard His whisper, reminding me He loved me not because of what I could or could not do; not because of what I could or could not offer, and not because of how good or not good I was . . . . God reminded me He loves me because He simply loves me.
