During our first day of GYPC we were posed 3 questions that we were invited to listen and discern about. Throughout the rest of the day many of the conversations helped to shape my responses to these questions. As I continue to reflect I would like to share these questions with you and encourage you to discern on them as well.
1. What is God saying to you?
This question in and of itself could take thousands of words to express, but I am going to try and condense as much as I can. Most of all I feel that during this time God is affirming His call on my life. One of the first things spoken to us was a traditional African greeting: “Welcome Home.” Over 300 delegates representing 40 countries are present here, but still we are welcomed home in a land most unfamiliar. It was explained to us that the greeting is not welcoming you to a land, but instead welcoming you back to a familiar people, a group that is united by their roots. This greeting is also meant as a personal greeting calling you out as an individual and I am reminded of the personal call God places on all of our hearts in Isaiah 43: “I have called you by name; you are mine.” This is where I feeling God is moving in me the most, affirming that I have been called by Him. That I am His and I am redeemed through His son, and that God will remain with me no matter where I travel.
2. How will you open your heart to hear God?
I think one of the biggest things when it comes to opening our heart to hear God, is we must first open our ears to hear others. An old African proverb states that if you want to go fast go alone, but if you want to go far go together. So often I feel that community plays a large role in our relationship with God. If we are unwilling or unable to open our hearts to our fellow brothers and sisters, how can we ever expect ourselves of fully open our hearts to God. This is something I am trying to be every intentional about during GYPC, to make sure I am not guarding myself and that I am allowing space for God to move me.
3. What must you empty from your heart?
One topic that was discussed was the idea that like a cup your heart can only be so full. Once your cup is full, you must make space before you can add more. This was paralleled to our hearts. If your heart is already full where is there space for God? The redeeming power of Jesus Christ can only take root if there is an opening to be filled. So we were asked what we must empty from our hearts in order to make more space for God. Honestly, I am not sure I have a fully developed answer for this yet, but the closing words yesterday came from 1 Samuel 3: 1-10 where Samuel struggles to discern the voice of God. This was something that resonates with me. I struggle at times to discern if God is in fact speaking to me, and in a way I feel I may be listening to intently for Him. Instead of just allowing God to just move in my life, I first feel that I must always hear from Him. I need to empty this expectation from my heart and in its place allow God’s movements to speak for themselves.
Again, I encourage and hope that you will also reflection on these questions so that you may discern your own answers!