Sandy's Challenge

Tonight at youth group Sandy gave the study/lesson. She chose to talk about the three types of man: the natural man (the unsaved), the carnal man (the saved man who lives as though he were unsaved), and the spiritual man (the saved man who grows in Christ and continues to mature spritually). Not only that but her point was that the only way to really grow and mature as Christians, to move from eating milk to eating solid spiritual food, is to dig into the Word of God and to know it, study it, love and treasure it well, constantly, and consistantly. She did a GREAT job on this lesson. At the end of the evening, as we do every week, everyone was paired up with one partner for the prayer portion of the evening. Sandy was paired up with Carla. I do not know what they prayed about or talked about, but I do know that they were together for about 15-20 minutes really dialoguing before they finally prayed. On the way to drop off the kids in Arrayanes, Sandy did tell me that they had a really great talk and prayer time!

The cool thing about this is

1. Sandy is actively reaching out to Carla. She introduced her to the youth group tonight (even though most of them are her cousins) and made sure to tell Carla that she is already a part of this group and that anytime she can or wants to attend/participate we will always welcome her and be glad to have her! This impressed me quite a bit!
2. Sandy shared with me this afternoon before youth group that she went to the church facility in Arraynes this afternoon to spend some time in prayer preparing for tonight's lesson. She thought she had been there only about a half hour, when in reality she was there praying for more than an hour. She said it was an amazing time of prayer, that she could not lift her head and was crying most of that time. She said she felt like she was holding her bared heart in her hands as it beat before the Lord. She said she went there to pray for herself, but once she started she found that the Spirit would not let her pray for herself until she first prayed for everyone else. She said she prayed for her parents, for me, for her family as a whole, and FOR CARLA, among others. I know the Lord was praparing her not only for the lesson she was about to give, but for that time with Carla! What an amazing work the Lord is doing in and among these girls...and such an obvious one up to this point!

The other thing that Sandy told me as she related the experience of this prayer time was that the Spirit would not let her pray for herself until she did one other thing, and that was to ask God a very specific question. Sandy and I are doing Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself study on the Fruit of the Spirit. This past Monday we finished up our week on Kindness and Goodness, but we talked specifically about goodness and how the Bible overwhelmingly associates "good" and "goodness" with DOING. At the end of the lesson, I gave Sandy homework: to spend this week praying and asking the Lord a very specific question: "What is it, Lord, that you now want me TO DO?" And I told her that she had one week to pray and listen to the Lord and that I knew she would have an answer from him by the following Monday. This was the question the Spirit wanted her to finally ask of the Lord before He would allow her to continue on, praying for herself for the evening ahead of her. She said the question came to mind and she knew she needed to ask Him, but she couldn't get the words out because she knew there were so many barriers and that if she asked and He answered, she just couldn't see how she could get past the barriers. The biggest barrier she said she recognized was her parents. She said she was honest with the Lord and told Him all this, and as she did she felt the Lord telling her: "Let that barrier go. That is mine to deal with, not yours. You just do what I ask of you and let me deal with all the barriers." She said as she felt Him telling her this she was finally able to ask the question, and she heard the Lord answer. And at that point she was able to move on to praying over herself for the evening's lesson.

As she was telling me all this, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Every time she tells me about an encounter she has with the Lord, it's just such a powerful one! God has great plans for this young lady's life, and He is working them out right now. He is preparing her to move forward into her own promised land right here on earth! And it is EXCITING to be here to see that work taking place. What a priveledge it is, and it's so humbling. But more than anything it just makes me want to dance...and those who know me know how little I like to dance, so that's a pretty significant thing! And all this is affecting others. She is touching lives, whether she sees that effect or not: her parents, her sisters, her brother, Carla and her family, and others in the youth group. Tonight as she talked about the three types of man, she asked the youth to think about which kind they were. As she waited for response, some of the more mature youth in the group admited that they identified themselves more with the carnal man because they lacked a consistant meaty diet of the Word. I was surprised at their open honesty in front of so many! They were hearing her, and even better, they were hearing the Lord challenging and calling them to more! And it's all for the glory of God! What an AWESOME God we serve!

Please continue to keep Sandy in your prayers as well. There is much in her immediate future as she begins to gain more photography business as well as taking on more direct leadership in the youth group. God's doing big things, and we are only scratching the surface of the fruit of that! Keep praying because the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective!