Have you ever had one of those experiences in which God absolutely wrecks your heart and soul? There have been a handful of times in my life when God has done this for me, or to me. They are moments that stay with me from that point forward, acting as a trajectory for my life. This summer I stood in a room of 200 middle school students and had my heart wrecked, broken like it has been broken only a few times before.

It was the last night of camp. The camp pastor walked us through an activity called “Walk the LIne”. There was a line of tape down the center of the room. He ask everyone to step to one side or the other, it didn’t matter which one. He then explained that he was going to read a series of statements, and that we should walk to the center line anytime we personally identified with what he read. The statements started off light, with questions of eating ice cream and having more money. But slowly he probed deeper. Statements like: Walk to the line if your parents or divorced or separated. Do you feel pressure to perform well in either sports or grades.  Do you feel pressure from your parents to achieve or perform. Have you been bullied, and, have you bullied someone else. Do you struggle with anxiety or depression. And, have you considered self harm or suicide. I was standing near the back of the room watching as time and time again our students walked to the line. While I don’t know exact numbers there was never a time when at least half of the room was not on the center line, in many cases the number was closer to 80%. It absolutely wrecked me!

This experience has stayed with me all summer, I think about it often, and every single time it brings tears to my eyes. It wrecked me as a parent, it wrecked me as a student ministry volunteer, it wrecked me as a friend, and it wrecked me as a follower of Jesus. This is just not okay! Here is the problem-camp doesn’t and shouldn’t last forever. We all come back to the real world and real life. Where the struggles and pressures each of us face are screaming for attention, focus and energy. And it is so easy for us get caught up in the monotony and pressures of life, that we forget how open we were to God and His leading and prompting while at camp.  So, we quickly fall back into old and unhealthy habits and routines. We forget that the same God we worshiped so freely and openly at camp, is right here with us day in and day out. He is ready and willing to fight for us, lead us and help us, if only we will let go and ask. Trusting that He not only can, but will bring us through.

This week I was reminded very clearly of the battle we are in and how easy it is to take the “out of sight, out of mind” approach. However, I was also reminded very clearly that God is at work and doing great things. I have been blessed to watch and be present with both students and adults as real life change happens. Whether it’s watching a student surrendering her life to Jesus, or follow the call into missions, or leading worship, or simply making time alone with God a priority in their lives. I’ve also been privileged to watch adults step out of their comfort zones to serve, and see them open up to God’s leading. And simple pleasures like having lunch with a good friend that shares your heart and burdens, the realization that we are not in this thing called life alone. God has weaved lives and hearts together in amazing and mind blowing ways.  We just need to stop, look outside of ourselves and become aware that He is working and moving. And decide are we going to go with Him or sit on the sidelines and watch.

This morning I was reading in Mark 12. Jesus words are clear and simple: Love God, love others. What if we simply took those words to heart and lived them out. What if we stopped looking for loopholes or exceptions and simply obeyed His leading? What if we stopped fighting for what we want and took what He is offering and graciously providing? What if we all did our part in making a difference? What if we stopped trying to impress others and lived to please God?