One by one each face enters the room, walking up a set of stairs from the electronic store below. Each person goes to hug their closest friend, knowing full well that this may be the last time they would see them. The smell of coffee and joyful chatter fill the room. This is the last Sunday we will be in Albania.
As we make our way to our seats, there was an underlying hope for God to move(the pastor had welcomed us there to share hope with nonbelievers and to ignite the hearts of the church). New Heights is full of Jesus professing youth, but what they needed is a fresh realization of who he is.
Worship started and everyone stood still in their seats. Some sang, some starred blankly at those who were singing. I knew that God was leading me to initiate something, but I didn’t know what it was.
As I sang, it became obvious that God wanted me to go down to the altar. That was honestly the last thing I wanted to do. I stood there clinching my fists and peeking with one eye to look around the room, hoping that it wasn’t God voice who I was hearing.
Moments later one of our leaders who was on the stage for worship motioned to me. I walked up hesitantly and he said to me, “Whatever it is that God is telling you to do, you need to do it.”.
Wow… I laughed at how straight up God was being. I made the decision to kneel at the altar, trying my hardest to ignore how many people were looking at me.
Soon I felt something brush up against my shoulder. It was one of my squamates and a young Albanian girl! They sat beside me praying and worshipping together, and soon my team leader followed. He stepped down from the stage and wrapped his arms around me. We started praying and crying because this was the last week we had before he moved to Kyrgyzstan. What a beautiful moment of love and closure this was.
After a while God gave me another direction, and this time I said yes a bit quicker. I stood up and made my way to the mic, inviting everyone who hasn’t accepted Jesus to come up for prayer. Then I walked back to my spot at the altar hoping someone would respond so I wouldn’t look dumb.
One after another things started to happen. The young girls on the stage prayed over each other, and so did some in their seats. Two others joined me at the altar to pray on their knees. Worship turned spontaneous and the room felt free… This is what we had all been praying for.
What God does with a simple act of obedience is astonishing. It is accessible to us at any moment, all we have to do is listen. I truly believe that something changed that day at New Heights Church. I believe that a deep hunger for spiritual things has been stirred.
I do not tell this story to talk about what I did… quite the contrary. If it were up to me I would have stayed in my seat sipping my coffee. But (with a little push) I trusted that the things of God are so much more satisfying than the things of myself. I said yes to his offer.
Consider…
Are you willing to do something completely uncomfortable for the sake of the gospel? Are you willing to risk being “wrong” or looking “weird” simply because God tells you to?
I challenge you to listen to that small voice in your head. Talk to that person on the street, pray for that store clerk, tell your friend about how God has transformed you.
Your yes is worth it.
