We serve an awesome God, and I believe He delights in reminding us of that fact. This past weekend was one of those reminders for me. On November 21st I was one of nineteen brothers and sisters gathered together just outside Columbus under the name “Campus Ohio.” The campuses represented were Ohio State, University of Toledo, Case Western, Miami University, Capital University, Xavier, and Oberlin College. We began the day with the necessary introductions, and then quickly moved into a time of prayer. We were blessed by the presence of not only college students, but also a few seasoned prayer warriors.
As I prepared for this weekend, God laid on my heart a number of things that I believe He wanted us to come away with. The first was something that has been a theme in Campus America for a while now: the importance of family. Family is special because you can’t earn your way into it. You are born into it, and you can’t get voted out either. There is a confidence in the fact that you belong to a network of friends who are committed to you. For life. We as members of Campus Ohio are a family. God has connected us with a bond stronger even than natural ties, and I believe He will teach us more and more what He wants that to look like.
The second thing I shared was the fact that God is more interested in the messenger than the message. He cares more about our relationship with Him than anything we can do for Him. As soon as anything we do “for” God gets in the way of just being with Him, we need to take a step back and re-examine what we are doing. Along this line, I shared something that I came across a number of weeks ago that really spoke to my heart:
Rest For The Weary
This weariness must compel you to sink back, a tired child, to rest in My Love. There remain, until that Love so permeates your being that you are supported by it, and, so strengthened, arise.
Until you feel that this is so, remain inactive, conscious of My Presence. Yours is a big work, and you must refresh yourself and only approach it again after periods of repose.
The activity on the Spirit-plane is so great, so wonderful, that but for the times of enforced rest and prayer, you would be stirred to an emotional activity on the physical plane that defeats My ends.
There was much more that was shared, but all of it spoke to the fact that God really wanted to get our attention and draw it back to Himself.
We had a really sweet time of sharing our stories of how God drew us into a prayer-driven lifestyle. Every story was different, but there was a common theme of God setting each person an a path towards Him without anyone realizing it. A number of people were strongly affected by the book, Red Moon Rising, and even more were pulled into the prayer movement by excited friends.
We also heard stories of what God is doing on individual campuses. Ryan and Anthony shared how at Capital University they have a Bible study with other members of the football team. Jeremy from Miami University told us how God lead him one day to stand up in the middle of a pedestrian mall on campus and sing to Jesus. A number of people joined him, and now a group of them got out to sing every Friday, sharing the love of God with passers-by. These stories were a just foretaste of what God is doing on our campuses in Ohio.
After sharing a meal of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, we gathered in the chapel and took turns praying over each other. It was a truly beautiful time as we got a glimpse of God’s heart for us. The time flew as we encouraged each other with our prayers. Before we knew it, it was 9:30 pm and time to go home. Before we went our separate ways however, Jeremy summed up our time together with an improvised song about prayer, friendship, and family. It was a beautiful close to a beautiful day.
So the question that arises in my mind is, “where do we go from here?” I don’t know, but I know who does. Our Father has plans for His family that He will reveal in His time. I believe He will show us as we focus on our relationship with Him and with our brothers and sisters.
Front row L to R: Adriana, Janika, Kristina, Jen, Paige, Daniel, Jeremy, and Josh. Back row L to R: Katie, Anthony, Ryan, Kelly, and Joel.
