Dare to Listen

As I sit and reflect on the amazing opportunity I had to be a part of such a great movement, I was left speechless as to how God works and reveals Himself in the most amazing ways. Participating in Urban Confessional last Thursday opened my eyes and heart to so many people with so many different stories from all walks of life. By holding a sign that simply says, "Free Listening" it surprisingly brought so many people up to me and Nick. Many people were curious as to why we were holding up a sign with "free listening" on it, while some truly saw it as a gateway to open up to us about their lives. As we began to speak to people, my heart began to soften and my nerves began to cease. God had brought a sense of peace upon me that He was about to show me something great. Before we left school to travel down to Centennial Park,  I was excited, but man did God make me even more excited as He was bringing people up to Nick and I. It blew my mind. God is good always. I took so much away from just listening to people and not having to fill the space with my words, but fill it with someone else's words.The crazy thing about all of it was that so many people were telling me, "What you are doing is so inspiring," but to be totally honest, the people I talked to, their stories inspired me more than anything. It made me reflect on my own life and how God has blessed me in every area of my life. It made me appreciate all the amazing people, places, and things God has abundantly blessed me with. All the people I talked to, their stories affected me, but one in particular hit me very hard. A man walked up to me and Nick and asked us why we were holding up a sign that said "Free Listening." We answered shortly and simply with the phrase, "we are here for you and to listen to you." The man was taken back, he said he had never seen a group of people who wanted to truly listen to someone about what's going on in their life. He continued to tell me and Nick that he was about to graduate from a recover program centered around ministry that is held right near Centennial Park for broken men. He said he was interested in going into ministry when he was done with that program. I, being so curious about his background, boldly asked him why he wanted to go into ministry and what was his story. He took a second before preceding to talk. Through this silence, I learned the art of not filling the empty silence with words, but just simply silence. I learned how powerful that silence can be. He eventually started to open up telling us how he was addicted to drugs and alcohol. He paused for a second and looked at me and said, "no offense, I took advantage of a bunch of women, I was addicted to sex, and addicted to the thought of being with a different woman every night." It made me cringe for a second realizing the reality of that. He told us about the night he hit rock bottom as he began to say. He was downtown around Little Five Points with his friend when they both decided to take some drugs and alcohol together. He made it known to us that he loved that style of living care free and being able to mask all the bad things in his life. He looked at me and Nick with hurt in his eyes as he unraveled the result of that night. He made it short and simple as he said that they had both over dosed on drugs and by the grace of God, he woke up, but his friend did not. He said to us as he drove his dead friend to the hospital he realized the need for something more than the life he was living. He realized he needed to get his life together and get rid of all the things in his life that could eventually end up killing him. He then told us that he researched and found the ministry that was for men who specifically needed to recover from drugs, alcohol, and many more things that were ruining their lives. I was in awe of how God worked in such a horrific situation and called this broken man to Him. He smiled when I asked him what type of ministry he wanted to go in to. He said he wanted to share his story around the world and travel over seas to spread the joy he had found in the Lord. I couldn't help but tell this man how much he had inspired me through his story and inspired me to keep pursuing God in every area of my life. One of my favorite things to talk to anyone about is my faith and how God brought me out of a broken and dark place and renewed me, so exchanging the conversation about how God had worked in our lives was unforgettable. As this man walked away, he told me never to give up and keep doing the Lord's work no matter who tries to stop me. I took that small phrase to heart because this man had gone through so much and had found Jesus in the midst of addiction and struggle. It made me realize that God will always bring us back to Him no matter how far we run or how far we stray away from Him. I had chills when this man left and my breath felt like it had been taken away as God had humbled me in my walk and showed me someone else' struggles. It made me realize that I don't have it all together either and that even though I was there to show Jesus to these people, God instead showed Himself to me through the people that came up to me. I learned the secret to listening and closing my mouth and letting someone else open theirs and let them be heard in a world where silence is rare. I throughly enjoyed being a part of this incredibly humbling experience and I encourage everyone to step out of their comfort zone and see how amazing God works through people around you. I encourage you to learn to be silent and learn to listen to people's stories and struggles because I promise you, God will show you how great He really is.

Psalm 22:24 "He has never let you down, never looked the other way when you were being kicked around. He has never wandered off to do His own thing; He has been right there, listening."