Awakening

"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." - 2 Corinthians 3:17

Liberty. What a word. For the American Patriot the word may swell their heart with pride. For another, it might just another word in the immeasurable sea of words. For me, it splashes water droplets of love on my dry, desert of a heart.

Over the past two months, but specifically the past three weeks, God has poured His love and grace on my life like no other time I can ever remember. Or, maybe He's always been there pouring out His love and I'm just now starting to pay attention. Yes, I think that's it.

The rain started falling on my heart in Atlanta, Georgia for Passion 2010, a gathering of college students from around the world uniting to make God famous. "Yes, Lord, we walk in the way of Your truth, waiting eagerly for You, for Your name and renown are the desire of our souls." -Isaiah 26:8

Passion was an unforgettable experience, filled with heartache, joy and too many life lessons to mention. Funny how you can experience heartache and joy at the same time, isn't it? Oh, but it's possible. You can be hurting, and yet clinging to the promises in God's Word that supplies us with "joy unspeakable." Praise God for joy and peace in the midst of painful situations.

Through the days at Passion, God showed me how unbelievably merciful and holy He is, He gave me a taste of how much He truly loves me, despite myself, and most importantly: He gave me an awakening.

He woke me up to liberty.

It never ceases to amaze me how unbelievably fast my heart hardens after distancing myself from the Lord. I do it to myself; I make the choice to get on facebook rather than picking up the Word and reading the letters of love from my Maker, I make the choice to separate myself from the God of the Universe and the God of my heart, to make my own way, to plan out my future and set out to make it happen. But God's love pursues. The Maker of the mountains and the Tamer of the oceans doesn't want to be a part of my life, He wants to BE my life. My all. My joy. My peace. My only love. And I make the conscious choice to put something else above Him. Despite that, He still desires to be my everything.

I can't get over that kind of love. And I don't want to.

Liberty is such a gift. It is because of liberty we can read our Bibles in America freely (for right now). It is because of liberty we are no longer slaves at a plantation. And it is because of liberty we are no longer slaves to sin. We have been granted freedom through the cross! Isn't that amazing?! God gives us liberty, ahem, freely.

The last few weeks God has shown me a lot about my future, He has called me to Africa for missions. He has called me to Murray for school (I'll be starting in the fall). And He has called me to be obedient to the rest of His callings, whenever they come and wherever they take me.

Living in Liberty and encouraging you to do the same,

Sophie