Reflection. It is
a good thing. We all need to take time to reflect back on choices whether
good or bad that we have made in our lives as they all lead us to the moment in
which we find ourselves now.
In the spring of 1993, I
made a decision to attend Liberty University. I had originally planned on
going to my local community college but that spring, God stirred something
within me and my plans changed. Each step in regards to going to school
fell into place and in the fall of 1993, I moved into a dorm and began a
journey.
Within the first couple of weeks of school, I found
myself in my first grown up storm. I was
involved in a horrible car accident that put me in the hospital for a week due to
a collapsed lung. I remember that moment
as if it were yesterday. It was terrifying as I recognized I could have been
killed. I remember hearing later that my
granddaddy had gone to the junk yard to see my car and could not believe that I
had survived. I remember realizing that
God had a plan for my life.
My freshman year of college was full of heartache
and joy. I made amazing friends and
created memories that to this day I still smile when still think about them. I had dreams.
I wanted to be something someday.
God was trying to work in my life.
I was trying to listen. I wanted
to listen. One Wednesday at convocation,
Dr. Falwell preached a sermon that left me yearning for a more intimate relationship
with Christ. The Word of God became
alive and real to me that day and I wanted more. I totally missed the mark. My problem, I
turned to the wrong places/ things. I did
not know where to find Him. I was new to
hearing from God and I made a bad choice.
I dropped out of school. Out of
fear because of my failures, a lack of trust in God and just truly not knowing
where to go next, I ran like Moses after he killed the guard.
Almost twenty years later, He has brought me
back. I have wandered for almost twenty
years in the wilderness. I have seen Him
bless my life. I have seen Him work in
my life as He has grown my faith. He has
taught me to listen to His voice above the chaos and He pulled me from the
wilderness and drew me closer to Him. He drew me back to where I started.
God had a plan for Moses to do great
things. He knew He would use
Moses to lead the people out of Egypt but Moses missed the memo and ran away out
of fear. Did this make him unusable to God? No way.
God did not give up on Moses. Instead,
He waited for Moses to stop wandering and He went after him to finish the work
that He began in Moses. Oh how I need
that story of Moses. I need to be
reminded that though I took a detour almost twenty years ago, that God still
wants to use me for the purpose in which He created me.
God does not give up on us. He sees us as the work that He has created us
to be and He knows our full potential. He is just sitting back waiting for us
to finally wake up and realize who we are in Him. So I am now back to where I originally
started. He is now going to finish that work He began in me. I am setting out to become what He originally had planned for me. It is my turn to be used and my purpose accomplished because God is good! ALL the time!
