I love going to Creationfest. It has only been my second year, but when I am there I feel like I am in a whole different world. I mean what’s not to love… Festival Food, Shopping, Great Music, volunteering with an amazing Organization like Compassion International…the list goes on and on. But for me I think the deciding factor is the fact that I can stand on a hillside as the sun is setting, arms lifted high and sing praises to God with 70,000 other people. It is an incredible feeling. If that isn’t corporate worship…I don’t know what is. It really drills home the point that we are not alone. No matter where we are in walk with God, if we are torn down and searching for His grace and love, or we are on the top of the mountain having conquered the valley, we are not alone. There are 70,000 other people who have felt at one time or another how you feel at that moment, 70,000 who are willing to reach out their arms and pray for you or give you a hug if that is what you need. For me, going to Creation is a reminder of how the Body of Christ is supposed to work, united. We shouldn’t have to wait for the summer to come to gather with thousands of other believers to see unity come forth. We should be displaying it in our home churches, our communities and our homes.
I am grateful for my experience at Creation this year because it was completely different for me than last year. This year I was there rejoicing about what God has done and is continuing to do in my life, last year I was broken and searching for hope. This year God brought me out of my comfort zone, I was able to speak to more people and share my heart with them. I was able to share my experience as a child sponsor for Compassion and allowed people to see you can make in a child’s life through the program. I also got to stop and talk to people about To Write Love on Her Arms, some who were wearing the shirts didn’t even know what they were supporting, but after I explained it to them they wanted to go home and learn more. But more than anything I am thankful because God brought me out of my comfort zone and urged me to lift up the broken and hurting in prayer.
During one worship service, I was urged to pray for an older woman and as I lay my hands on her I could feel the Lord working in her life. I felt as if a fire came forth, and she broke down in tears. I believe that she had her breakthrough that night and I give God the Glory, because when we come before the altar of the Lord he will restore us as long as we let him.
But I know I was not the only one who the Lord had placed such a burden on. From the stages, almost every speaker or worship leader or musician had a message for the crowd. “You are not alone. You matter. God knows your hurts and wants to heal you.” We have to acknowledge that we are living in a broken world, and that brokenness is creeping into our churches. It is affecting our youth, it is affecting our ministries, it is affecting our marriages, and it is affecting our leaders and our families. But there is hope; the brokenness does not have to consume us, because we have a Healer & Restorer & Hope in Jesus.
I know that many people were ministered to on that hillside over the four day period. Thousands decided to take a stand and give their lives to the Lord. Over 300 decided to solidify that commitment by getting baptized. I pray for all who attended that the Lord continue to work in their lives, continue to move in their hearts, and continue pouring over them with His Love, Mercy & Grace.
It was a sobering feeling to drive past the place where we had our accident last year. But instead of fear, the Lord has given me a peace. I know that he saved me for a reason; I know my work is not yet done. And I know that there is so much of my story left to write and I am ready to experience it all, because I know I have the Lord on my side. I will continue to pray for those that need healing: emotionally, physically, and spiritually. I will continue to fight for those who have lost hope, because I believe they can find true Hope in Jesus. And I will continue to believe in the greater things to come in my life.