"Only when we have come in touch with our own life experiences and have learned to listen to our inner cravings for liberation and new life can we realize that Jesus did not just speak, but that he reached out to us in our most personal needs. The Gospel doesn't just contain ideas worth remembering. It is a message responding to our individual human condition. The Church is not an institution forcing us to follow its rules. It is a community of people inviting us to still our hunger and thirst at its tables. Doctrines are not alien formulations which we must adhere to but the documentation of the most profound human experiences which, transcending time and place, are handed over from generation to generation as a light in our darkness." -- From Reaching Out by Henri Nouwen
After my time in Nicaragua, and really my journey through this summer, God has been working in my life in a powerful way. It seems He is calling me out for something much bigger than myself, and then through people and circumstances keeps affirming that calling. To be honest it is scary and exciting all rolled up in one.
This morning during my TAWG, I read this quote from Nouwen and it really put into words my journey. At times I feel like Jeremiah responding to God with, "Who me?"... surely there could be someone else! Yet God replies, "This is what I created you for!"
I love the Gospel. I need the Gospel. I'm aware of that more and more everyday. I love the Church and have given my life to it, and by God's grace will continue to. I often ache when thinking about the future of the Church - especially the generations present that are walking away and the future generations that will start with no connection. Yet the power of the Holy Spirit is alive and active. There is a message to take to the nations. Light will always pierce through the darkness... and we are called to be the light bearers.
So where do I fit into this Gospel community? What is God calling me to? I can't say I have complete answers to all the questions I have, but I pray God will continue to form and shape a moldable heart and spirit in me. I desire to live a life characterized by obedience... to life a life that matters... to live for eternity.
God I pray You would continue to be faithful to guide me into what lies ahead! Soli Deo Gloria!
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