freedom – OneHeart2Worlds

Denial: Not Just a River in Egypt

It’s been a little while since I’ve “gotten free,” so here it goes. While I was having a little one-on-one chat with God the other day, He prompted me to tell Him the truth about something that I’ve been in denial about for yeeeeears. So, I had to stand there all “awkard-like” and confess this:

“Pops, I really like to sin.”

I have to tell you guys—the “legalistic and insecure” Christian in me is dying right now from having typed those words out on paper. But it’s true. If we are going to be 100% honest with each other, we should all be able to look at ourselves in the mirror and say, “Hey, Good Lookin’… I need to get free: I like to sin. It feels good, it tastes good, it smells good, and it’s even fun to fantasize about.” But for some reason (and I’ll speak for myself here) I’ve been so afraid of admitting that truth out loud. I’ve been terrified of admitting that I don’t always hate sin, that I don’t always want to run from it, and that I don’t always say “no” when I am supposed to say “no.”

I used to deny this little nugget of information because I was so ashamed of it. Plus, I really didn’t want to get kicked out of the “Cool Christian Club.” What Christian wants to admit that they love sinning? I mean, how incredibly “ungodly” of me. (Shame on you, Sam. Go pray.) But it’s true. If sin wasn’t attractive, we wouldn’t want anything to do with it, right? If sin wasn’t pretty to look at or fun to think about, we wouldn’t have a problem walking down the straight and narrow road rebuking the lies of Satan left and right. I don’t know about you, but even though I love Jesus with my whole heart—sin is still a daily struggle for me.

But all of this led me to another truth: There’s power in honesty and there’s freedom in taking accountability for your struggles. For example: If I continue to deny the fact that I secretly love watching Game of Thrones when I’m alone in my flat at night, then I am not going to get anywhere when it comes to my relationship with the Lord. This is especially true since God already knows that I love watching Game of Thrones and that I don’t fast forward the sex scenes. To Him, it’s no secret. He just wants me to be honest with Him about it. And hey, that makes perfect sense because all real relationships are built on honesty, trust, and open communication. So why would my relationship with God be any different?

I’m stubborn. I like to push boundaries, cross lines, and dance near cliffs. It’s kind of my thing. Luckily, the God of the Universe is unconditionally loving and incredibly patient, and He is willing to trek through those valleys of difficulty and hardship with me—holding my hand every step of the way and even stopping to rest when I get too tired of moving forward.

When I admit my struggles to God, I am giving Him the power and the freedom to actually DO something about those struggles. Proverbs 28:13 in The Message version of the bible says it in such an awesome way, “You can’t whitewash your sins and get by with it; you find mercy by admitting and leaving them.” The New Living Translation says it this way, “People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.” Being honest about my sin, and handing my struggles over to God, means that the enemy can no longer control me with his guilt and shame tactics. Then I can move past those things and walk in the light instead of hiding in the darkness. It gives me the assurance that I am loved and accepted by my Heavenly Father despite my imperfections. But if I keep pretending like nothing is wrong, then the Holy Spirit can’t freely work in me.

And to be honest, when I really sit and think about it, God’s character and His relationship with me through Jesus are enough to make me want to stop doing stupid stuff. Judgement doesn’t make me want to stop, fear doesn’t make me want to stop, and even condemnation doesn’t make me want to stop—but love… that changes things. It’s hard to purposely hurt the people you love (or the people who love you) and God is no different.

The Lord loves me and has my best interests in mind. So when He says, “Sam it isn’t a good idea to watch this show because it will put lustful and violent thoughts in your head, not to mention you probably won’t be able to sleep because zombies have always given you nightmares. I know how you think, so trust Me on this one, sweet girl”—I should probably listen to Him because He is trying to protect me.

Lastly, I got myself an accountability partner because being honest with God is only the first step towards complete freedom and life full of abundant joy. I found a girl who I can be real and honest with about my struggles. She is the person I can call at 3am when I am tempted to do something stupid, she is the person who is willing to pick me up when I fall flat on my face, and she is the person who will pray for me when I am too discouraged to even pray for myself. There’s no judgement or ridicule or fear in this partnership, just love. Neither of us are perfect, but we both want our hearts and lives to glorify God. I highly recommend getting an accountability parter to anyone and everyone who wants to push past their comfort zones and grow closer to the Lord—because doing life alone is hard.

So get free, walk in the light, and keep trusting that the Lord only disciplines and directs us in love, not anger. If you take any tidbit of info out of this blog, it’s this: You are never alone in your struggles, you are always loved, and freedom in Christ is yours for the taking (if you want it).

Your Friendly Neighborhood Missionary,

Sam

Junk in the Trunk: A Missionary’s Misconception

So I just read an awesome blog entitled, Things I Would Not Say to a New Missionary, and let me just tell you that the post was so wonderfully accurate. I laughed so hard because I knew exactly what this lady was talking about. Her post inspired me to get real about a few “missionary misconceptions” that I’ve struggled with in my own life. As I have said so many times before, I am not a “cookie-cutter Christian,” nor am I a “cookie-cutter missionary.” I don’t ever want to fit into a stereotypical Christianese box – it limits God and it limits me. So, I realized that it might be time to demolish a few stereotypes and send some encouragement your way.

First things first, I need all of you to know that after one year of being a missionary… I still have no idea what the heck I am doing. No, you think I’m joking, but I’m so serious. This is a very important fact because before I became a missionary, I thought that I needed to have my perfect, holy, and blameless life together before I could go out into the world to serve God and others. I was so wrong. When I read back through God’s Word, I quickly discovered that not a single person God chose to use for His glory had their lives in order. In fact, most of them screwed up before, during, and after they were called and sent out to serve and love God.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 that, “God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.”

Is Sam foolish? Check. (Just ask my parents, I make dumb decisions all the time.)

Is Sam weak? Check. (Especially when it comes to keeping my thought life clean.)

Is Sam unable to boast about how fantastically holy and perfect she is? Quadruple Check. (I am constantly in repentance mode like every five seconds.)

Well, now that we’ve established that… I hope you feel more qualified to do big things for God because as I’ve discovered over the course of these past few years – my “success” as a missionary is not dependent on my abilities to maintain a perfect track record or get an entire country saved. (Because honestly, sometimes I can’t even muster up the energy to take a shower or do my own laundry.) My “success” is entirely dependent on God’s ability and His desire to use a broken vessel like me. God only requires me to be available and to be willing to move my feet (and to perhaps open my mouth when the time is right). If His light can shine brightly through my cracks and flaws, then I’m a happy camper.

I’ve had so many people tell me that I am an inspiration to them, and I think that’s a very beautiful thing. But I really want to stress that I am no different than anyone else. I am not more holy, more perfect, or more qualified. Fun fact: Even while I was in South Africa, I sinned. I know, I know, whip out the holy water and get your pointer finger of shame and judgment ready…

Just kidding about the holy water, but I wasn’t kidding about my sin. I have never done this “missionary” thing before. I am learning every single day what it looks like and feels like and sounds like to be a follower of Jesus. I love Him with my whole entire heart, and I need Him desperately every single day, but that doesn’t mean that my life will be a perfect one. However, it does mean that it will have to be a dependent one. That was a huge and humbling lesson that God needed to teach me while I was in South Africa last year.

The standards that I had for myself were “Jesus Standards of Perfection.” Which, incase you didn’t know… are unreachable standards. I didn’t cut myself any slack and I really struggled with my own guilt and unforgiveness because I was so fearful of letting everyone down: God, my family, my church, my friends, and anyone else that knew about my journey. I had to learn that God loved me before I even knew who He was. He called me to go and love the girls who were (and still are) fighting against the same struggles that I’ve had to fight against, because they need to know what it feels like to be loved and forgiven – just like I needed to know what it feels like to be loved and forgiven.

I have a bad habit of making some of my sins appear worse than others on my “God Scale of Wrath.” I seriously need to throw that thing away, because it’s totally unbiblical and unbalanced. For example, I’ll pray for a long time about my lustful thinking and how I need to stop cursing in front of my little brother when I drive in Miami’s ridiculous traffic, but I won’t spend much time praying about my pride or my jealousy towards another girl. In God’s eyes, it all separates me from Him and it’s all equally wrong. So when I feel like a failure for one “seemingly big” sin in my life, God looks down at me with compassion and says, “Sam, crazy girl, if you think that’s bad, wait until I show you the rest of the junk that’s hiding in your heart. There’s stuff deep down in there that you don’t even know about yet.” YOH. Ouch. But it’s a holy and purifying ouch, so I dig it. Because just after the rebuke, comes God’s reminder that I shouldn’t feel shame or guilt or resentment – but instead, I need to remember that He has already nailed all of my sins to the cross. They are dealt with, it is finished. He already knew about all of the mistakes I was going to make, and He sent me and called me to be a warrior in His army anyways. His patience and love and grace know no bounds. If I am willing to bring Him all of my “junk” and lay it down at His feet, then He will always be willing to deal with it for me. Without condemnation. Without hate. Without disdain.

In fact, I think God gave me this job of serving His people because of all of my junk. I had to walk through some crappy and embarrassing and hurtful things in my life, and those things have given me a heart that is so full of compassion and love and understanding. When I see someone else struggling through what I experienced, I can look them in the eyes and genuinely sympathize because I’ve been there. That’s a gift. Because of my junk-filled past, I get to share a hope-filled future with the people I meet all over the world. All a missionary really is – is a person who loves Jesus that decides to walk out of their front door and into the world with faith instead of being bound up in fear. It’s that simple. I may be living the Christian life in South Africa, but that doesn’t make being a missionary in your backyard any less significant. All lives matter, everyone deserves the opportunity to receive love and hope through our actions and our words. Compassion is contagious. (It’s scientifically proven. Don’t worry, I checked.)

So this blog is just a little reminder that we are all equally imperfect, but we are also all equally valuable and useful to God (in the little things and in the big things). The purpose and the power remain with Him, but the choice to step up and walk in faith remains with us. So don’t fear failure, instead, have faith. And if (and when) you make mistakes, run back to God and let Him cover you in His grace.

[Be]loved – A Poem

Hi all. I wrote a little poem for you (but mainly for me). Sometimes it’s easy to forget that our past mistakes do not define us, so I wrote this as a little wake up call. I wrote this poem to remind me of my name, which is Beloved. And I wrote this poem to remind others of who God has redeemed them to be … which is loved and blameless.

(*I need to get free real quick: This poem comes from the deep places of my heart, so it’s a bit scary sharing it with the world. Literally sweating as I sit here typing this, haha. My hope and prayer is that God will be stronger than my weaknesses, and that He will use these words to make an impact, even if it’s only for one person. Enjoy it.)

[Be]loved

Oh lust, my old infatuation, my persisting temptation,
I can still remember the way that you tasted.
So sweet on my lips, but your taste was short lived – I continually craved it.
I could never get enough of you.
You dominated my thoughts, you would catch me off-guard, and you had me persuaded.
You coerced me with your words while seducing me with your eyes,
And you know what, it worked – I was fascinated.
Constantly hooked on a feeling that penetrated me deeply, it was so stimulating.
You made me feel things that I’ve never felt before,
Igniting sparks within me that made me want more.
And together we explored a new world that was full of adventure and so much allure,
But what I remember the most… was feeling remorse.

Oh lust, you betrayed me.
You served me your glorified lies on a fancy plate of strife, and I digested them gladly.
I believed you when you said you loved me,
But that was nothing but a fantasy, a fake idolized reality.
While I was sharing my heart, you were shamelessly committing perjury.
You stole a piece of me and that piece was never yours to keep.
Incomplete and lonely,
That’s how you left me – haunted by those old and dark memories.

You got bored, said farewell, and you left me to fend for myself.
But I have news for you lust, Someone else found me…

That’s when You showed up, dearest Love.
You set me free and You confronted my lust,
You uprooted the lies that were planted in my head,
And You watered my soul with the truth instead.
“I will be faithful and make you Mine,” You said.
“I will show you mercy and grace despite your mistakes,
And wrapped tightly in My arms, you’ll always be safe.
I will call you precious, beloved, and treasure – My very own design.
And My love for you will endure until the very end of time.”

So I asked my dearest Love, “Why did You choose me?
I’ve been broken and used and I’m terribly sorry,
But no matter how hard I try to get clean, my body feels shameful and filthy.
How can you love me, a girl marred by impurity, worn down and weary?
How can you want me? I feel so guilty… so unworthy…”

Then You spoke, dearest Love, and I heard Your voice.
You spoke gently and softly, but clearly.

“How beautiful you are My darling, how beautiful!
You have captured my heart – it’s indisputable.
Nothing can separate My love from thee, not lust, not doubt, nor the deepest depths of the sea.”

Then my dearest Love said to me, “Tell the world and share our story.”
So there it is, my testimony – written in rhyme, bold yet brief
About a girl who was lost, but came to believe.

And if you’re someone who is struggling to see
Why a perfect God would love an imperfect girl like me,
It’s simply because of His Son who died on the tree.

A death He died so lovingly – unlocking the chains… setting me free.