A Bit of Vulnerability

January 23, 2013, when I left Midland, I had no idea what really lay ahead. I sit back today and can't believe what the Lord has done in the last 22 months of my time serving with Mercy Ships. 

I was looking back at my Jesus Calling devotional that I was reading the day that I decided for sure to serve with Mercy Ships, today. One of the verses referenced is 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. And we who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

I have said many times in the last 2 years that I truly believe God brought me to a ship in Africa to bring deep healing and freedom in me so that he can be glorified. When I was in the States and I was facing something difficult there were so many places to turn and ways to escape really dealing with things.  When you live on a ship with 450 people who you do everything with…work, shop, eat, church etc. it acts as a bit of a pressure cooker. God has used these 2 years to bring to the surface so many things I had never seen back in Texas. There have been days that were excruciating as I have walked down the path that leads to freedom in his spirit, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. He has come and brought healing in the rawest and most vulnerable places in my heart. There were days I did not think I could handle it as he has peeled back the layers of my heart that need his healing from things like hurt, rejection and abandonment. It was scary to face things that it was much easier to leave in the dark, but I know that bringing things into the light is where freedom in Christ lies! As I continue on this journey of healing and wholeness I am encouraged by Jeremiah 29:11-13 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. “

God promises wholeness and to be found as we seek him with our whole heart. I want desperately to walk in wholeness in the Lord. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have had the last 2 years to run to Jesus like never before, as I don’t have the comforts of home.

Dear One if the Lord is pointing to something in your heart I encourage you to let him come in rip off the Band-Aid and bring healing. It hurts, but it is SO worth it in the end.