“I have lived my life as comfortably as I can; never stepping outside of my comfort zone.”

     As a Christian, vulnerability is SO IMPORTANT for allowing God to shape our minds and our hearts. God already knows the workings of our hearts, He created them Himself; but we need to be vulnerable so that we can allow His word to speak truth to us, and so that we can grow in our faith and as people. We need to be susceptible to these changes and growth, and the only way to do that is by being vulnerable. We can recognize the parts of ourselves that we need to give to God. We can uncover deep hurts within ourselves that need love from God.

  Being vulnerable, and stepping out of your comfort zone, is one of the best ways for God to use you. He knows your strengths and weaknesses, and will use BOTH for His glory. In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 it says, “ 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

   Since coming to Wellspring, God has used me in ways I never thought were feasible for me. I wanted to control how God was going to use me to glorify Him. Doesn’t make any sense, right? I never thought I would be comfortable enough to talk to others about Jesus. I always was too nervous and too afraid of what others would think. I’m extremely shy and introverted, and I’ve always had a hard time talking to people that I didn’t know very well. As soon as I surrendered that to God; as soon as I allowed Him to work in my life the way He had intended to, he turned that weakness into strength. He allowed me the opportunities to serve in the church where I’m talking to people about Jesus all the time!

    I did a 12 day devotional recently on the fruit of the spirit. In the day about “faithfulness”, author Diana Stone wrote, “The fullness of God’s purpose for each of us comes when our faith propels us to offer up our lives for the glory of the Kingdom. Not later, when we feel more qualified or can see just where He’s leading us-but right now, just as we are”. Being vulnerable allows God to turn these things that you consider weaknesses into strengths to glorify Him and to further expand His kingdom. He doesn’t want you to be perfectly ready; He just wants you to open your heart and your mind to Him.

“Being vulnerable allows God to turn these things that you consider weaknesses into strengths to glorify Him”

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
‭‭Romans‬ 12:2 ESV

   One of the best and most amazing things about Wellspring Church is all of their opportunities to serve the Lord. It may be uncomfortable for some to step out of what they’re used to, but the Lord can do AMAZING things through you when you’re vulnerable and allow yourself to grow and change in a place that is unfamiliar to you. These things you consider a weakness can be changed by God, and only by God.

God loves you.

I’ve always been a little jealous of the people in the Bible who were able to hear or see an image of God so clearly. I feel like, of course if that happened to me than I would follow whatever He said, do whatever He wanted me to do, and my faith would be unshakeable. But, I don’t hear an audible voice or see an image of God speaking before me, so it makes sense that my faith wavers, it makes sense that I bounce back and forth between what I assume I should be doing, it makes sense that I struggle with decisions. Right?

Here’s the thing; God does speak. It may not be in the way we want to hear it, but God has provided us with multiple ways to hear his voice.

• Scripture

The Bible is the actual Word of God. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). When we read the Bible we get insight as to who God is. His character. His ways. His words. His desires. His plans. When we read Scripture we are hearing God speak to us. As much as I’m jealous of those in the BIble who heard God’s voice sometimes I imagine how they would consider us incredibly lucky to have the actual Word of God at our fingertips in our iphones whenever we need it.

• People

God has always used people to say things that others need to hear and I don’t believe he has stopped doing that. Sometimes these people were called prophets and at other times these people were strangers who ‘just happened’ to be in the right place at the right time saying the right thing. When you’re looking for the voice of God sometimes speaking to a follower of Jesus is a divine moment. Words from our friends can be used by God to speak into us. “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving,considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere (James 3:17)” Are we willing to hear it? “Mockers resent correction so they avoid the wise (Proverbs 15:12)” Lean into the conversations with other believers and be open to hearing a message you may be asking for.

• Prayer & Fasting

The power of prayer and fasting is real. Prayer is a time not only to come before the Lord to praise him, lift requests, and ask for healing, but it’s also a quiet time to listen. Many times when I stop speaking is when my mind will remember a scripture, or something someone has said to me, or a new thought will arise that clearly wasn’t there before. We want to hear from God but do we take the time to listen?

God speaks. He uses Scripture, people, and prayer to speak into our lives. I believe that God can do anything, so yes He can choose to send an angel into your home and speak loud and clear if He chooses, but I also think he has provided all these things and more to make his will for us clear and to speak into our lives. The question I’m left with is; am I willing to listen?

The next time we’re each asking ourselves questions about what God’s will is for our lives, what decision to make, or even if this is all real, let’s take a minute to see what the Bible says about the situation, take a friend out for coffee, and spend some time in real quiet focused prayer.