Chipped

Every year about this time I start reflecting on the year that has just gone by. I know it’s not January 1st but because I’ve been in school pretty much forever, the natural rhythm of my life runs in seasons from September to June, with July and August acting as a summertime launch pad. I remember last year at our annual youth conference I had a defining moment that God made sure I would never forget.

We begin all our nights with worship and worship ends with a prayer. I grabbed the microphone to pray and I got really excited, because that’s just how I roll. I was going at it pretty good and my hands were getting excited, and my head was excited, and somehow my hand hit my face and I chipped my front tooth on the microphone. Later that night Trent Sheppard preached a message about growing into maturity that absolutely ripped me up inside. Sitting there that night listening to Trent was like hearing all of the thoughts, frustration, and longings I had experienced over the previous few months converge at his lips. Every word pierced my heart and by the end of the sermon I could only respond in tears. Trent invited anyone desiring to grow into spiritual maturity to the altar and before he was done talking I was already there. I didn’t care that their were 800 hundred people there, I didn’t care that I was leader, I didn’t care about maintaining some image that I have everything together all I cared about was answering God’s call and getting everything out of that night that I was supposed too. I just knew that night was the beginning of something new in my life.

August 13, 2009 was a turning point for me, and I will never forget it. Every time I feel the chipped tooth in my mouth I remember the day God urged me to “throw off everything that hinders” and “run with perseverance the race” he marked out for me. That night he birthed in me a hunger for His word, a hungry for His presence, and a hunger for righteousness. Since that day I have made mistakes and honestly some days I “run” harder than others, but no matter what, through joy, pain, success, and failure I press… “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus”.

I feel like we all have had those seasons in life where we can feel God poking and prodding at our heart. We can feel His spirit urging us to lay aside some things in our life, to close one chapter so we can start another. What is God saying to you? More importantly, how are you going to respond? Are you going to let your public image or your pride dictate your level of surrender or are you going to lay everything aside and answer the call?


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Love, Life, Christ,
Riis,