God-Sized Dreams

     This week was a really good week. In the DTS, the speaker was Troy Sherman, a man who was born and raised in YWAM. He spoke in my school, as well, on the same topic- Identity. I remember him being a really good and impactful speaker, and those memories were correct! I learned so much from him again this year, even though it was the exact same teachings that I heard last year.
     One thing that Troy repeated over and over and over -both this year as well as last year- was that "God wants to use ordinary people to do extraordinary things." The Bible is a book about very ordinary and imperfect people. It isn't about extraordinary people! As Troy says "When extraordinary people do extraordinary things, it isn't anything amazing because it is expected. But when ordinary people do extraordinary things, the glory goes to God because it is amazing."
     I think it is pretty safe to say that most of us are ordinary people. So if we offer our lives to God, and tell Him that we are willing to do whatever He asks, He can do some pretty amazing things through us, and best of all, HE gets the glory, if we give it to Him. If we give our whole heart to God, we are giving an infinite God infinite possibilities. If we keeps just one small section of our heart, we are limiting an infinite God. The idea of giving God our all and seeing what He does with our lives is so so exciting, yet all too often, we don't give God our whole heart. We keep just one small part of it for ourselves, often because of fear. We think that this doesn't matter, but it does.
     Where in my own life have I been keeping a part of myself away from God, telling Him that He can have my everything- except that. Why don't we trust God? He literally has our best intentions at heart, so why do we often find it so hard to trust Him?
     Troy also asked us this question: If your life had a price tag on it, what would it say? Then he answered that question: It would say "the life of a God". Jesus paid for us with His life. We know that. But do we live that way? How are we living out lives, the ones that Jesus bought with His life? And then He had us read 1 John 3:16. Not the typical John 3:16. But 1 John 3:16.
     Troy then went on to ask us about what we think disqualifies us from the Kingdom of God. Why do we think that anything can disqualify us, when Jesus died for us? What if the things that hold us back, the things that we see as flawed and keeping us from being competent, are actually the things that God wants to use? Troy's biggest fear is public speaking. He refused to speak in front of even small groups, until God challenged him to do that. Now, that is how Troy spends his life. He still has the fears, but the fears help him to constantly cling to God in his work! We should be building a kingdom worthy of our King, for when He returns. If you are 'unemployed' in the Kingdom of God, then you should get a job. God wants to use us to change the world. He wants us to look past our fears to Him, and take that step of faith and trust. We need to be the change we want to see! In the Bible, it says that Christ is the head, and we are the body. That means that we are God's hands and feet here. If we want God to change the world, we need to be willing to let Him use us to do it! After all, what can a head do without its body? Obviously God is all powerful and can do it alone, but He chooses to partner with us instead! If you aren't willing to be the answer to your own prayer, maybe you shouldn't be praying it. It is so easy to pray "God, just show the people of this place Your love!", but maybe God is asking YOU to go there and be the answer to that prayer. If we don't have impossible dreams, then we don't need God to fulfil those dreams. We don't need big dreams, we need God-sized dreams!
     God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Troy told us story after story of regular, imperfect people who listened to God and were willing to step out of their comfort zone and do what He asked. And God showed up in amazing ways! One story in particular stands out to me. It was about a girl who did a DTS that Troy was leading. Afterwards, she felt that God asked her to go to South Africa and do something about human trafficking. She didn't know much about human trafficking, not enough that she thought she could make a difference, anyway. So she went, figuring God just wanted her to learn more about it.
     She got to South Africa and went to get some coffee or something. And there, she met a man, started chatting with him, and ended up having met the US ambassador to South Africa. He was so interested in what she was telling him about human trafficking that he brought her to the embassy, where -within 24 hours of having arrived in South Africa- she met the Secretary of Internal Affairs in South Africa, who also wanted to talk to her more about human trafficking.
     If you give God your everything, you are giving an infinite God infinite possibilities.
     If God can turn a shepherd into a king (David), a fishermen into world changers (the disciples), a murderer into a leader (Moses), and a group of slaves into a nation (Israel), what more could He do with you?!
     Blessings,
          Katie

The YWAM Madison Fall 2015 DTS! Yes, I live with ALL these people. In one building.

As I am driving home from preschool at about 3:30, the sun is already beginning to set. I just had to stop and take a picture; it is so gorgeous!