Joy Unspeakable

“Christ’s call is to feed the hungry, not the full; to save the lost, not the stiff-necked; not to call the scoffers, but sinners to repentance; not to build and furnish comfortable chapels, churches, and cathedrals at home in which to rock Christian professors to sleep by means of clever essays, stereotyped prayers and artistic musical performances, but to raise living churches of souls among the destitute, to capture men from the devils clutches and snatch them from the very jaws of hell, to enlist and train them for Jesus, and make them into an Almighty Army of God. But this can only be accomplished by a red-hot, unconventional, unfettered Holy Ghost religion, where neither Church nor State, neither man nor traditions are worshipped or preached, but only Christ and Him crucified. Not to confess Christ by fancy collars, church steeples or rich embroidered altar-cloths, but by reckless sacrifice and heroism in the foremost trenches...

“Too long have we been waiting for one another to begin! The time of waiting is past! The hour of God has struck! War is declared! In God's Holy Name let us arise and build! 'The God of Heaven, He will fight for us', as we for Him. We will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock of the sayings of Christ, and the gates and minions of hell shall not prevail against us. Should such men as we fear? Before the world, aye, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless, namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God, we will venture our all for Him, we will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only our God, than live trusting in man. And when we come to this position the battle is already won, and the end of the glorious campaign in sight. We will have the real Holiness of God, not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts; we will have a true Holiness, one of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ.” -CT Studd

My favorite part of this: "Before the world..we will dare to trust our God, we will venture all out for Him, we will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only our God, than live trusting in man."

I have found no greater joy in life than in trusting in my God. Growing up at the beach, being at Auburn when we won the National Championship in 2010, living in Spain, looking over the Atlantic from Portugal, watching whales jump out of the water in Alaska, tossing my coin in the Trevi fountain in Rome, and watching 3 lions in the Kenyan wilderness pale in comparison to knowing Christ and making him known.

And although the Lord has blessed me with many experiences while traveling, the visual memories I have from some of the world's top tourist attractions will never be as vibrant as the mental pictures I have of God's light shining in the midst of brokenness and poverty. I watched a shoeless orphan in Mexico walk to the gate of his orphanage and give his cookie away to a passerby on the street. I watched homeless people bring dirty 2-Liter Coke containers they found in the trash to the soup kitchen, so that they would have somewhere to keep their food and something to eat for the next day. I watched Kenyan young adults walk upwards of 10 miles to proclaim the name of Jesus to young pupils in the very schools that they grew up in. And I watched broke college students weep and cry out to God over the lives of young babies at a children's home in Nairobi.

When I think back and ponder all of these memories, the moments where I directly saw God at work re-play as vivid mental images with vibrant colors and sounds. Sometimes I even think I remember what it smelled like in those places. But in the moments where the world was hustling and bustling and "ministry" wasn't on the forefront- on the train in Paris, in class in Auburn, or on the beach in Florida- God was just as present. He is at work to accomplish his redemption of the world in those places, just as equally as he is pursuing the hearts of his people in Kenya and Mexico. The beauty of both is that everything was created by God and finds its purpose in Him.

The joy comes in trusting that my God is faithful, and that He will do what He said. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 says, "The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it." Deuteronomy 7:9 says, "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments."

My God can be trusted and He is worth everything. He can be trusted with our future, he can be trusted with the orphans and widows, and he can be trusted with our families. But he has entrusted his followers to be his hands and feet in this world, and what a mighty project it is that stands before us. We are truly at war, yet He beckons us to walk with him daily. I desire nothing more than to be at the end of my wits for the glory of God, as joy unspeakable is found only in Him.