This weekend I had the utmost pleasure of visiting Body of Christ Church in Ames, Iowa.
I don't think I will ever forget this experience. The morning had a bit of a chill in the air, and the fog hung in a low hazy way. The streets were pretty bare with a few people here and there wandering to their destinations that Sunday morning. Billy had told me that it was small, but other than that I didn't really know what else to expect. I walked in the doors and could hear the muffled voices of the choir just outside the building. As the doors opened and we entered, this feeling overwhelmed me--authenticity. I looked around and saw roughly 75 people or so all of different races, colors, ages, etc. The choir was on stage--most of them African American. Now, let me interrupt things for a second here and explain something. I was born in Forest Lake, Minnesota. One of the smallest of small towns in Minnesota and the definition of white suburbia. You could say I grew up in a sheltered way concerning diversity--I wasn't really exposed to it. So there I stood; a small town, white suburbia girl (and I mean WHITE), in a church with multiple different races, people dancing, people singing, people shouting, and just genuinely praising God. At first I was a little taken back. You could say it was kind of out of my comfort zone just in the sense that I had never been to a church like that--but within the matter of minutes, it's like my soul melted into the rest of the other hearts of the congregation. Immediately I felt like I was already a part of the church, like I was a part of the Body inside the congregation of that church.
I didn't know the songs at all. I'm used to Hillsong United, David Crowder, Desperation Band, etc. But even though I didn't know the tune, even though I didn't know the words, even though I didn't know a thing about the songs, jumping right into praising God came easy for me there. I felt welcomed, I felt accepted, and I felt like nothing was holding me back.
After worship, the pastor stood up and treached (taught + preached). Pastor Toran Smith, I have been told, works at a UPS store, and felt God laying it on his heart to start this church. When you hear and see him speak, the reason why God had that calling on his life is very apparent. He spoke with such just, authenticity, truth, and a life-giving-focused way. He spoke out of love, out of teaching, out of preaching, and out of being a vessel of Christ. He was stern, yet humble in his strength.
The topic of the message was Extraordinary. The second I picked up the pamphlet that we were to follow along in, and I read that single word "extraordinary" across the top, I knew it wasn't just by chance that I was there for that sermon.
He went into reading Daniel. Talking about how Daniel had an extraordinary spirit and extraordinary wisdom. Inside that, he started speaking about how there are barriers that keep us from being extraordinary. Barriers are something that I have had to deal with (which I'm sure a lot of you can relate to) on a pretty regular basis--especially in the past few years. A barrier can be anything from hate built up in your heart, to rules, to people speaking un-righteous things over our lives. Basically, a barrier is anything that keeps us out and away from living to our extraordinary potential.
I have allowed barriers to surround me. Heck, I've even probably built some of them myself. Within that, I've surrounded myself with them, keeping me back from reaching that extraordinary destiny that Christ fashioned my heart for. Destroying those barriers completely is something I have already immediately started praying and interceding for. I was so encouraged to realize that God can use me for His purpose, for His glory, for His Kingdom, all in extraordinary ways than my mind can even imagine. Over my dead body am I going to let barriers keep me away from that. Over my dead body will I just settle for some mediocre, boring, day-to-day life.
This message just really pierced my heart and I think it was a huge push that my heart needed to hear. I'm really in a transitioning point in my life right now, not knowing exactly what lies ahead of me, but I have such a peace about it. Basically I'm in the river, allowing God to take the current wherever He wants and whatever speed He wants, and I'm just floating along--not paddling, just floating. I'm so thankful for how Christ works--all in His perfect timing and perfect ways.
My encouragement to you is to read through Daniel, let this soak in, think about what your barriers are, and what is having you settle for being ordinary rather than extraordinary.
Here's to living the destined life..
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