Getting out of bed after 9 hours of sleep is already a battle. Try 6 hours and I’ve got a seemingly impossible task in front of me. When my alarm went off at 6:30 AM, I stayed in the haven of my warm bed for 20 more minutes, debating whether or not I wanted to show my face to the world that morning. But I decided to be brave. I got up.
The first three classes at school were torture. My mind was foggy. I felt like I was going to pass out. All I could think of was how tired I was. I went to the library during my free to attempt to read, and ended up falling asleep (patagonia fleeces make amazing pillows). I woke up to a gentle tap on the shoulder from a sweet girl in my choir class who I barely talk to. My groggy and confused expression must have said it all. “The bell’s about to ring. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t dead or anything,” she exclaimed, half jokingly and half seriously. And then before turning to leave, she whispered to me, “I believe in you.” I believe in you. Those four words changed just about everything. The day got easier after that. It was still drained in every way, but Jesus was my sustainer. He gave me all I needed to get through the day. He gave me rest in the form of intentional conversation, which re-energized me.
If that wasn’t enough, God went farther. That same day, an appointment I had scheduled right before work ran late. Frazzled, I ran into the classroom only to find a packed, loud, bustle of kids. Two of whom had just walked in and were teacher-less. My co workers breathed a sigh of relief and within 10 seconds, I was sitting down with these two brothers. They immediately started fighting over a pencil and both of them ended up in tears. A room filled with chaos; kids who have spring fever and don’t feel like studying; now add two screaming crying brothers to the picture. But that’s when the younger one, who had just turned four years old, looked at me and said in his adorable voice: “You’re beautiful. Did that just make your day? I tell my mom that every day.” And then he started doing his work again, as if none of the past 3 minutes of fighting had existed. I almost started crying myself. Because in that moment of chaos, those were the exact words I needed.
The words we say, change people. You can think the truth in your head, but there’s always a part of you that doesn’t believe. I can tell myself I’m beautiful because Jesus says so and He doesn’t lie. I can trust that so and so loves me, but hearing them say, “I love you,” “You’re beautiful”, solidified those things in my head that day. When my friend and my student spoke those God given words, I felt like it was God speaking those words directly to me. Hearing my friend say “I believe in you” changed everything because I realized that God says that to me every moment. When getting out of bed seemed impossible that morning, Jesus was there whispering to my soul, “I believe in you. I believe in you.” Hearing my four year old tell me I was beautiful, made me realize that even in that moment of chaos, that’s how Jesus was thinking of me. God used a four year old and a friend whom I barely see, to speak truths over my life that I couldn’t access in the moment. Those truths drastically changed the course of my day.
My prayer is that we would follow these examples. That we would listen to the Holy Spirit and speak truth into people in moments where they can’t access it themselves.
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