Pillar of Cloud

The sense of anticipation for what God was up to only continued to grow as the week progressed.

In my past experiences with camp, conferences, or even missions trips it takes half the time to press in before anything really significant happens. Usually, stuff that's in the way has to be broken down or people's hearts have to be prepared before they're ready to let God enter in and and move among them.

Not this time.

We steeped in the life of Moses for the week, studying Exodus 3-4:20, Exodus 33, Numbers 11, and Joshua 5:10-6:20. The central question was: Will you change the world?

Aslan was one the move from the beginning. Before the end of the first full day of camp I was already having conversations with people who were telling me about what God was teaching them or calling them to. On Wednesday night we prayed together as a chapter for the NAU campus. I heard both upper and underclassmen pray big, bold, strong prayers for our campus. I coud feel God's presence in the room with us. I kept thinking, "If this is how it starts, what is gonna happen by the end?"

The weather that week was freezing and a couple times we got a layer of snow. Most days though camp was just covered in dense fog and mist. As we were studying Exodus, I couldn't help but think it was if God had come down in a pillar of cloud to meet with us that week.

I saw Him do the biggest thing on Thursday night, both for me personally and for our community. Steven spoke on "Will you change the world even when it's hard?" He talked about the 3 walls that world changers always hit when they reach the point of wanting to quit.

The Walls:

1. Feeling the pull of the "good life" or "comfortable life" that you gave up.
2. Feeling alone and abandoned.
3. Feeling crushed by the burdens of the people you're leading or just the darkness of the world.

So my brain was exploding. Let me explain why. Even though this past had been the happiest one of my college life there had been a few days at the end (Fridays specifically) where I would feel anxious, sad, and lonely for no identifiable reason. But now, here was Steven articulating for me what I had been feeling! I had been anxious, sad, and lonely because I was facing the reality that I will hit these walls as I enter into the life of a world changer. I was so happy just to have an explanation for the crummy way I had been feeling!!

Then, Steven articulated the promises of HOPE that are attached to these walls when they come.

The Hope and Joy

1. Perseverance is possible because God will always provide what you need.
2. You will never be alone. God will go with you and He will always provide you with the people you need. You will always be led! (Isn't that crazy awesome!?)
3. God will never abandon you to carry the burdens of the darkness of the world or the brokeness of people. The Holy Spirit will always give you the comfort you need and carry the burdens for you.

I couldn't believe it! God had given me the exact joy and hope I needed to step into the next stage of my life as a world changer!

Steven said that he was going to ask people to stand if they wanted to say yes to being a world changer even when it's hard. I was literally bouncing on the edge of my seat, eager to stand and say yes. However, I didn't expected more than half the room to stand. By this point in the week, and especially after that talk, we were understanding that saying yes to God meant laying your whole life on the altar. It's a yes that is almost as significant as becoming a Christian. I felt the only reason I was so ready to say yes was because God had been working on me for the past 4 years. But oh boy, did I under estimate was God was doing in that room.

Steven asks us to stand if we want to say yes and...

The whole room stood without hesitation.

Every single student stood up at the same moment that I did (the girl who was on the edge of her seat!).

I literally couldn't contain the joy inside me at that moment. And the joy just kept growing as I heard the stories from my own chapter of what they had said yes to and what God was calling them to. I want to remember that night forever as a holy moment. God is going to use the people that were in that room to do BIG CRAZY SCARY things for the Kingdom of Heaven. And I got to be there in the moment when they said yes.