Transparency

God put me in a situation where that job description was challenged with another one:  be vulnerable and talk about what God has done in my life.

On a summer project with Cru in Poland at “Speak Out” English camp for Polish students, I taught students in English about leadership, but the goal was also to find an opportunity to share my testimony and faith in Jesus.

I planned on doing this on the fourth day when we got to the subject of trust.  My intent was to share how I came from a naturalistic perspective and had a hard time believing in supernatural things, even after I came to faith. Over time, as I learned to trust Jesus in smaller things, my willingness to trust him for more grew, and I started to accept that God could still move in supernatural ways. It blended in well with the material that day and I felt comfortable with this approach.

That morning I did as I planned, but we finished the session 15 minutes early. Then I felt the Spirit prompting me to share the most difficult journey of my life when I needed to trust God in a life or death situation.

While the story ties in well with my testimony, it’s a subject that is still hard for me to share without getting overly emotional. The previous night I had decided I would mention there is more to the story and students could ask me later, but I would not share it in front of the whole group because I didn’t want to get emotional in front of the students.

But now the Spirit was prompting me to do so.

Reluctantly, I stood back up and began to unfold my story of immense pain and struggle.   

When my wife was pregnant with twins, tragic complications made it almost certain they would not survive.  We were utterly devastated and cried out to God. I still vividly remember the pain and angst my wife and I felt throughout that ordeal. Amazingly God’s divine intervention allowed my sons to be born and thrive (which even the doctors couldn’t explain)!  Both boys overcame a tumultuous start and are now healthy adults. God had done something supernatural.

True to form, I got teary-eyed and choked up. But it was a powerful story that impacted the students.

During the camp, two students received Christ and others rededicated their lives; some of those students later pointed to my story as a major factor in their decision.

I am so thankful I said yes to the Lord to share my weak times so God could use them for His glory.

On most occasions, it’s appropriate to keep an emotional distance from students.  But sometimes, as the Spirit leads, God can powerfully use a moment of transparency to touch students’ hearts in a way that nothing else can.