March 16, 2014
Submitted by: Ashley
Hi, I’m Ashley, and I WAS complacent…
Over the years, I have heard these questions asked many times, “How are you drawing closer to God?” and “What are you doing for God?” For the past four years, up until moving back to Michigan in June 2013, my answer has been “I’m not” and “nothing.” What a sad thing to hear a Christian say! Both of those questions are actions to be done, and the choice to do so was mine to make.
When I was nine years old, I received Christ as my Savior. In high school, I felt like God was calling me to go into the ministry in some form. It wasn’t until I went to a Christian college that I actually began to have a relationship with God on a personal level. Previously, I had based my relationship with God on knowledge about Him and about the Bible that I had accrued over the years of going to church and being in a Christian school (K-12). I remember being “on fire” for God and excited about the new-found relationship that I had with Him. Unfortunately, that was short-lived when I decided to settle down, put my relationship with God aside (temporarily I told myself), and focus on a relationship with my spouse who was a pastor.
When I would hear people give their testimonies, it always seemed like some life-altering event happened that brought that person back to God. Every time I would think, “that’s never happened to me…but it probably needs to.” You see, I knew I was living a complacent Christian life, not moving forward in my relationship with God and having little desire to do so. In the last days of May 2013, that life-changing event came my way. I lost an earthly relationship, but in the weeks following, I began a heavenly relationship with my God. Sadly, it took that loss to open my eyes to how far away from God I had become. It may seem odd to say, but I am thankful for it and, in the end, it was worth it.
So, after reading the above, you may think what does that have to do with going on a mission trip to Mexico? My answer is I simply need another life-changing event in my life. Even though I was saved, my relationship with God was broken, and He used something I never imagined to mend my relationship with Him (which is still in progress). We live in a world filled with broken people who are without God, lost and searching for something to fill the void with whatever they can “get their hands on.” I need to become broken again, this time for people and for showing them their need for a Savior. I’ve heard people who have gone on the trip before say Mexico is heart-breaking. I’m looking forward to that because I desperately need it. I pray it starts to break there, continues when I return, and never ends.
Please keep me in prayer as I prepare myself spiritually,
Ashley