“I really needed to hear that”

I am more and more convinced that there is nothing better than being used by God in the life of another person. To share the Word with someone or with a group and to have someone tell you that they “really needed to hear that”, is a feeling that is hard to describe.

The feeling is a feeling of being used by God. Being an instrument. Being useful for God’s purposes. When was the last time you felt that feeling? I think that it has really sunk in that "being useful for God" is the job description that I will have for the rest of my life. And it is not just because I am a missionary. All of us, if you are a Christian, have the same job description - being used by God in the lives of others.

I felt it yesterday at our youth meeting. Paola and I have been absent from the youth meetings the last two Saturdays because of wedding activities for our friends Erlan and Eveyln. We left a great exercise for the youth to do one week and last week we invited a guest speaker to talk to the youth about distractions that youth experience when they are trying to walk with Christ.

So, we actually really began our time as youth leaders yesterday. We had been involved over the last few weeks but it is hard to be a leader if you are not present. Yesterday we were present. And for every Saturday in the near future we will be present. So our time with them has officially begun.

And this time it was my time to share. At first I was a little nervous and then I became very very excited. I got excited because God is using me. He is giving Paola and I the amazing privilege and opportunity to be used in the lives of the youth here. And as I thought about the time that I would have to share God’s word with them I seriously started getting excited inside.

And it was a sweet sweet time. It is more like a small group right now of between 8 – 10 youth. But if God wants…the group will grow. Paola and I invited some more youth to the meetings today. But Paola and I know that it is not just about numbers. The most important thing is being used by God in the lives of the youth who show.

But yesterday was sweet. During the week God placed in my heart to share with the youth the “Five Things God uses to Grow our Faith”. This sermon series from Andy Stanley has been on my mind lately and so I thought it would be a great topic to share with the youth. I would recommend the series to everyone. And if you are interested you can check it out HERE.

I shared the five things with the youth (I will let you go to the website to explore the list for yourself) and God showed up. I had my notes but when I stopped looking at my notes I really felt the Holy Spirit speaking through me to these youth. It was such a blessed, useful, rewarding feeling. And then Paola asked the youth to share the one thing that jumped out at them the most during the talk. The youth shared some great insight and then one girl was a little sad and said that she “really needed to hear these words at this moment in her life.” That's it. That's why I do this.

We talked about faith...so my rockstar wife, Paola, came up with a great activity where we blindfolded the youth and led them around to teach them more about what it feels like to trust and confide in Christ for everything. Here are a few photos…



The bottom line is that God let Paola and I feel really useful yesterday. And it was our first true meeting. He let us feel like instruments. And we left the meeting as newlywed missionaries, praising God and walking on air.