Case in point. On Monday, June 20th, I shared my prayer petition with the ladies. I mentioned that since I was on vacation my desire was to invest my time in others, study His word and know Him better. I didn't want this summer to go by the wayside. I wanted it to yield returns and I was determined to pour my life into the lives of others.
The thing is that when I expressed my desire, leading the women's small group was the furthest thing from my mind. I mistakenly thought that I could do what I felt most comfortable doing. I wanted to relate to non-believers in my everyday experiences and casually reach out to them. Sure, I could continue to invite them to church and share the gospel with them. However, never in a million years would I imagine my friend, Paulita, asking me to take over the women's small group while she prepared to give birth to her second daugher.
If I can be perfectly frank, teaching women that have sons and daughters my age and have been a part of the church much longer than I have even been a believer was just a tad bit intimidating. I would no longer be able to hide behind my bible on Monday nights, free to comment only whenever I wanted to share something that wasn't too personal. No, now God was begging me to be completely transparent. I wasn't expected to sit by idly participating when it was convenient, I was now going to be challenging the ladies by asking and answering the difficult questions.
Yet the day that my friend asked me to take over, I felt complete peace. At that very moment, I realized that in only one week, God had answered my prayer and the prayers of the ladies in my small group. The dreams I had were small in comparison to His. God was calling me out of my comfort zone reassuring me by whispering, "Indy, you are not going to do this. I will do this through you. You will do this in my power."
God doesn't always answer our prayers the way we want, expect or even within our timeframe. And I am infinitely grateful for that. My God is a God that dreams bigger than I do, gives me more than I ask for, and loves me enough to believe in me when I doubt.
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." - Ephesians 3:20
At my friend Paulita's baby shower with some of the ladies from the women's small group.
1 comment:
you will always be a blessing to other i love your blog i check it out as much as i can i hope one day we meet again because God is taking us very different path in life but in my path i will never forget you i hope where you are moving God will open all the doors that seem to closed here in FL like becoming a mother buying your own house and so on. I have a feeling i soon will hear great things happening in your life I love you GL on your new journey
Post a Comment