Hey guys, I just wanted to update you on something going on with our ministry this year that the Lord has recently showed us. Tonight we had prayer, which is something we do every Sunday night at 9, and there were like 25 students. First, this is a victory! We have had around 25+ students come all year to our prayer meetings which is a vast improvement from last year in which we had maybe 3 or 4 each time.
Anyway, the thing that I wanted to inform you all on came to my attention when, at one point in our prayer meeting, we had students share people they had hearts for and for others whom they wanted us to pray. Usually during this time, it starts off a little slow and there are a few minutes of silence before someone shares and often in very general terms, but tonight students began to immediately share! They were sharing not only about fellow students for whom they were burdened to take the gospel, but also stories about how they had already shared and wanted to continue to be faithful to love those people through pushing them toward the cross! As I sat and listened to one student after the other share, the Lord hit me with the reality of what a reason to rejoice this was! Each of these stories and the ones like it not shared were major victories in the kingdom, regardless of the outcome! Each heart aching for the lost, each faithful step taken to express the gospel to those around them, each earnest prayer to hurt more was a victory advancing the Kingdom of God in the hearts and minds of students at Presbyterian College!
After many more stories and prayer requests, I interjected my thought and encouraged the students to recognize the work that Grace/Christ/Holy Spirit was doing amongst us. So often, it is easy for our students to think that a victory is just someone coming to faith or getting someone to come to one of our big events, like the Atlanta New Years Conference or the Summer Leadership Project. What I explained to them was the reality that God was at work meeting people where they were with the gospel through them and this was a great reason to rejoice! These other things are great things, but each faithful step before things such as these are just as necessary and important!
It was such an awesome time to rejoice over what God had done and was continuing to do and such a great time to give the students and myself the perspective to see the ways in which God was at work among us. So, just wanted to share that with you guys and encourage you in the same way to see the faith steps God has and is asking you to take and know that each one is a product of His grace and a reason to rejoice. peace, Ben
