As I write, I am
listening to the song Break Every Chain, by Jesus Culture and the line
keeps repeating There is power in the name of Jesus, to break every chain,
break every chain, break every chain.... The more I listen, the bolder my
heart grows for the calling He has placed on my life as a missionary to the
people of Italy.
Since October 3,
2008, God has branded me for this purpose. At times, I have fought it, cursed
it, run from it, wept in it, shouted for joy in it, and finally embraced it and
called it my own. Sometimes I feel like the prophet Jeremiah when he tried to
get out of preaching, "But if I say, 'I will not mention his word or speak
anymore in his name,' his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my
bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. - Jeremiah 20:9 (NIV)
No matter how
many times I tried to put this call on someone else’s shoulders and made
excuses for why I can't do what God has called me to do, he has kept scooping it
up, and placing it on me. I don't run from it anymore. I don't curse it
anymore. I wear it like a garment of mourning as I weep for the lost souls in
Italy who are yearning to be free from the bonds of unbelief that the enemy has
for too long used to keep eyes blinded, ears plugged, hearts hardened, feet
bound from running to the truth, and arms and hands tied so they cannot reach
out and receive the free gift of life that God longs to give them.
But like
Jeremiah, I cannot hold it in any longer. I am a dam bulging at the weight of a
mighty river ready to surge forth. No longer will I be silent or ashamed of my
call. I run with God into the fight, with NO FEAR of the consequences. I have
chased all the other false lovers; soul mirages that have left me dry and
broken - money, sex, power, complacency, self-indulgence, etc. I am ruined but
for Christ. I am good for nothing but to be broken like an alabaster jar at His
feet in a life of total sacrifice. Indeed, I am already oozing the sweet
perfume of His Spirit. I long for the
day that this prophecy is fulfilled in all the earth - Habakkuk 3:2 (NIV) -
"Lord, I have heard of your
fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.
Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember
mercy."
However, it seems
frequently that when I share about my burning passion and ask others to join in
with me, I get the same response that Moses gave to the burning bush - “I will
go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” – Exodus 3:3.
Why is my passion so strange? Why do people pat me on the back for my courage,
and shake their heads in disbelief?
Isn’t this a
reasonable act of worship – Christianity 101? Romans 12:1 (NIV) says – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters,
in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” Why is total sacrifice
strange or noble or admirable? Stop applauding, put down your hands, and run courageously
with me into the fray.
When God calls out in our generation as he did to Isaiah in 6:8 (NIV) - “Whom
shall I send? And who will go for us?”…..will we not answer him as Isaiah did? “Here
am I. Send me!”
Maybe your spiritual
battlefield is not Italy. Maybe yours is the office where you work, the neighborhood
you live in, the school where you take classes, or the community where you shop.
We must be compassionate conquerors, as we hold the banner of Jesus high, crushing
the enemy under our feet, and taking the liberated captives into the shelter of
the wings of an Almighty God who in Luke 61:1-2 and again in Luke 4:18-19 (NIV)
declares- “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me to proclaim
good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind, to
set the oppressed free.”
This is truly the gospel. This is
truly Good News! Truly there is power in the name of Jesus, to break every chain. So no more silence. No more fear. No more complacency. God is
calling us to action. What will we choose to do? In life you will inevitably
burn for something. Why not burn for God?!
