Impulses

I have had many moments in my life where I feel this strange tug. It's almost as though someone is whispering to me, "Go."

To be less vague, moments like these include say.. talking with a perfect stranger who works at a wig kiosk in the mall; studying Hindi for a year; stopping the car to see if a girl on the side of the road (she appears to be crying) is okay--it's 10pm; praying over a perfect stranger; cranking up "Dare You To Move" on the way home from Copper Mountain.

Okay, I'm kidding about that last one, but I did want to make note of it because last night was amazing. It's worth mentioning. Some ole college friends of mine were in the area this past week and I was finally able to visit them. They are each going for another year of missionary-type ministry: two to Berlin, one to Central Asia. They were staying in Copper because of a conference held by their "company" which included at least a hundred other post-college students preparing to go out all over the world to share the good news.

I felt like I was in the presence of greatness. And I'm not just saying that because when I got there I had the opportunity to share dinner with the current president of that company, but also because I knew I was in the midst of folks willing to give up their lives and time to simply be used by the Lord in a place where they might be very uncomfortable. (I apologize for the length of that sentence)

As one of my friends put it, "Hey, I have no girlfriend, I have no wife, I might as well." I internally chuckled at the way he phrased this statement.

And yes, it is a lot easier to "Go" when there's nothing holding you back. In my own life, I know there are other things, outside of relationships, that seem to be a barrier. 'I can't be late for work,' I think. Or, 'Someone else will do it.'

The reality however, is that it is up to me.

No. The God of the universe does not need me. And let me clarify that I am speaking in terms of everyday ministry too, not just overseas stuff. It's just these impulses that I'm talking about.. I don't know for sure if they hit other people the way they hit me. It's like I get this unbearable sense of guilt if I don't go. Does this make sense? And they happen in the regular moments of life--on a bus, in a train, at my (other) job, in the rain. (No seriously, I once had this impulse to pick up the notorious Mormon boys who were riding their bikes in the pouring rain a couple weeks ago.)

The rest of the evening with the missionaries in Copper was one of commissioning. We got a chance to pray over the hundreds of people as they prepared to leave, some the very next day to their location abroad. It was beautiful because prayers were offered in the languages of the places they were headed--English (don't forget the UK, South Africa and Australia!), Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Italian and Arabic. I was surprised to somewhat understand the Italian prayer actually. Hmm..

We continued in worship, singing one of my favorite songs of the moment, "Come thou fount," as well as "In Christ alone." And it was in the midst of all of the commissioning for others, that I knew I was ready to go myself. Wherever, whenever.

I think these impulses are evidence of the Holy Spirit inside of us saying, "I've got something to show you. It's exciting. It probably doesn't make sense to you. It probably will even look weird to others. Nevertheless.. Go."

Thus, how appropriate that the first song to play after leaving all this (after a 2 hour+ conversation with Katie about all the Lord has done in this past year) was none other than Switchfoot's "Dare You to Move." The impulse to crank that should never be ignored!