There’s still so much to process from this past weekend.
Pictures and comments exploded all over Facebook, Twitter and Instagram from IF:Gathering and IF:Locals. There’s words to describe our feelings – ignite, faith, stones, marking your moment, freedom, breaking down walls, building bridges towards racial reconciliation, be bold and courageous and what is your step of faith?
We’re made stronger. We feel God’s Spirit in us. We feel more united and ready take on a personal, community and worldwide mission.
Personally this past Friday and Saturday, I felt all emotional, moved, and humbled. I felt excited and overwhelmed. I felt raw and vulnerable yet understood. I felt anxious and nervous yet embraced. I felt a little more bold and courageous.
At the end of Sunday, after having tried most of my day to grasp all of those feelings, I thought, “I’m thinking about all the reasons and how’s and what’s we gained from this experience.” I’m thinking about all of MY feelings. And that’s not a bad thing because they were from Him, but suddenly these questions went though my mind.
What about God’s feelings this weekend? What was God thinking during this worldwide gathering? How did it make Him feel? Were all kinds of emotions running through his veins like ours?
So, I ask God –
In the prior weeks, did we make You feel giddy as You watched thousands of women excitedly plan and prepare for this huge party for You?
Did we make You feel all emotional to see thousands of women all over your planet gathering together at the same time to bring You glory?
Did You feel like You had front row seats to your favorite group singing Your wished-for songs like “Come Now Jesus”, “Great is Thy Faithfulness”, and “This is Amazing Grace”?
Were You grinning when we had some technical difficulties and our projector light bulb burst, knowing it would be all good in the end?
Did You cry with us with compassion as we cried out to You in prayer and confession for forgiveness, grace and mercy?
Did You savor in the conversations around the tables as we admitted our battles and fears?
Did You feel blessed with all the gifts of handwritten stones we gave You, offering our steps of faith?
Abba, were You proud of Your daughters for being obedient to You by making the commitment to gather, worship and learn from You together?
Did You heart skip a beat with joy when we talked about reconciliation and our heart’s desire for unity in all races as Christ followers?
Did You cheer out loud when you saw personal Jericho walls crumbling down?
Did You get a huge smile on Your face when one of Your daughters realized what You’ve called and chosen her to do?
Can You believe You have a large and growing army of women who are ready to take steps – even leaps – of faith and reach out to others to share Your love with people who need You?
Of course You can because You believe in us.
You know we can be bold like Joshua and Caleb were, even though it’ll be out of the norm of most people.
You believe in us because You know we’re capable and able to become an army of women to stand firm in our freedom through Christ and fight for the redemption of others who desperately need You.
You believe in us to take that step into the unknown waters because You know You’ll be there for us to make the way possible. We just need to be brave. We need to stop just being nice and instead be fearless.
So, maybe that’s how God was feeling and what He was thinking and experiencing at IF:Gathering. I could be way off, but He did become flesh and bones like us and had all the feelings and emotions we have when He walked on this earth 2000 years ago. That being the case, He can relate and understand the feelings we must have when it comes to holy experiences.
And that it was. A holy experience for all of us.
If you were part of IF:Gathering, what do you think He could have been feeling? Feel free to add a comment.
Comments