Was it really less than 24 hours ago that I stood, embraced by the Lord’s presence, amazed by all that He has done for me? It feels like three lifetimes have gone by since then, but no, only 22 hours.
I suppose it really all started a few months ago, on January 14, 2014. On that day, the Lord gave someone a prophetic word over my life, and they faithfully delivered it to me. It was a significant happening in my life, and so I documented it in my journal. That entry would be important to me on several occasions, the most recent of which was just 22 hours ago.
You see, it was like any other Burning Heart night. The worship was good, of course. But I’m sure you know how worship goes…sometimes you can get caught up in the motions. It’s not like you mean to do it, and I certainly didn’t mean to. But I soon found myself five songs in and hadn’t truly gotten in touch with heaven.
This is sad, I thought. Ignore everyone around you. Focus on God. That’s all.
Soon thereafter, I heard a song that I had never heard before begin to play. The title? You Make Me Brave by Bethel. It was catchy, and the words were powerful, and I began to truly enter worship at this point.
So, we got about halfway through the song, and I opened my eyes to read the lyrics on the screen, and they finally got through my tough noggin. They said, “You make me brave. You make me brave. You call me out beyond the shore into the waves. You make me brave. You make me brave. No fear can hinder now the Love that made a way.” I just broke.
That one phrase, “You call me out beyond the shore into the waves” got me. That was one part of the prophetic word from January. It was something along the lines of, “The Lord is calling you. You’ve been ankle deep, knee deep, waist deep, and shoulder deep in Him. But now He’s asking you to trust Him. Throw yourself into Him fully and trust that He won’t let you sink. Trust that He is going to carry you when you don’t feel like you can swim.”
That was it. Those words changed my entire life last night. I repented for my ignorance concerning my not-so-true worship, and requested something of my Father. “Please, let me feel Your love.”
That was all I said. And you know something? What I experienced next wasn’t something mushy or even very pleasant. I saw a vision of Christ being beaten, spit on, crowned with thorns, and hung on a rugged cross, struggling for each breath. And as each event took place, I heard Him say, “It’s worth it. For her. It’s worth it.” At that moment more than any other in my life, I truly felt what the love of God is like.
It’s not something I can explain. If it can be contained within my feeble words, then what kind of love is that?
Anyway, from then on out, the rest of that service was amazing, especially at the very end. Pastor Ferrill asked that the band do one more song at the end, an upbeat one. They chose Sing Your Praises by Matt Gilman.
And I need to be honest for a minute. In many ways, I can be like Michal, David’s wife, who frowned on David’s dancing for the Lord. I don’t like to make a big deal and dance around when I’m worshiping, but as they sung that song as we were headed out, the presence of the Lord was so thick, I literally could not stop myself from dancing. It was about a 5 or 6 minute song, and I would normally be so tired after just a minute of dancing, but there was this supernatural strength in my bones, and I didn’t feel tired at all after dancing the entire song. It was amazing.
There’s really no good way to close a blog post such as this one. All I can say is I hope you feel the power of God at least once the way I felt it last night. It will change you forever. Let it.
(Featured image courtesy of Scott Semko.)
Amanda Christine 