Read about the moving encounter a recent visitor had about the cost of obedience.

This past May I traveled to the Silk Road with a group from my university. While we were there, we stayed with an amazing team who welcomed us with open arms and the love of Christ. So quickly they became family, and we got to see what it looks like to be totally obedient to the Lord.  

This was my first time going overseas, and I wasn’t sure what it would look like. I wanted to be open to whatever plans the Lord had for this trip, but what I realized is that I had thought much too little of what God could do in such a short amount of time. The Lord is kind and gentle in His rebuke, and He showed me how great of an impact that obedience can have.  

On this trip we had a very unique opportunity to share the Gospel with a large group of Muslim students, many of whom were very open to discussion. Looking back, this isn’t something I thought I would get to do. I expected to be serving and be “doing the dirty work” the workers needed help with. I had no clue that I would have my first opportunity to preach the Gospel to Muslims on this trip. The Lord did a work in my own heart and showed me that He has a high call on my life and the lives of those around me.  

While getting to preach the Gospel was amazing, the most impactful part of this trip was the words that the Lord spoke to me about two days before we left.

We were meeting another small team that primarily works in villages, and we spent the day with them after we got back from a village trip of our own. They showed us where they work and what they do, and at the end of the day we went to a small village right outside the city to hang out and make bread. While we still had light, we decided to take a walk around the village, and the views of the city were incredible.

The nice walk quickly turned into a mini hike due to the hills, but there was one hill that I knew if I climbed it, it would have the best view of the whole trip. This personal determination quickly faded when I realized just how steep this hill actually was, but I could see the top and it wasn’t that far, until one of my leaders ahead of me shouted back “it’s a false peak”. I genuinely didn’t know if I could get to the top. I turned around and looked at the view behind me, and I remembered the story of how Elisha kept following Elijah all the way back to the Jordan. He kept going, all the way to the end, and I wanted to be like that.

So, I prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to come alongside me and help me. He did, and when I got to the true peak the view was better than I had hoped. I looked out and could see the city, other villages, and big gorgeous mountains all around. The sun was setting behind the mountains, and the Lord spoke to me so clearly saying, “I want to take you to higher mountains”.  

The Lord has a high call on all of our lives, but you have the option to say no. This is what makes Him different, in all His power and strength you can tell Him no. There are still consequences for your actions, but He will not force or drag you along. However, if you can humble yourself for a moment you will be able to see that He is good and so are His plans for you. The Lord wants a relationship with you, He wants to call you, friend, and He wants to take you to higher mountains.