Blessed to Be A Blessing

It was a treat getting to sit and visit with Hannah Cook, even though we were visiting virtually and she is a Mizzou fan (I am an LSU fan and yes, this was less than a week after we lost to Mizzou).

The past two weeks I’ve had the opportunity to interview two young ladies who know Jesus and are living and making a difference for the kingdom everyday. Now, I am just as excited when I talk to guys or older people, but the older I get, the more refreshing it is to see young people living for Christ.

Hannah grew up in Missouri and recently moved to North Little Rock because of work. She is, as she says, working her dream job. She works for Kids Across America Kamps (KAA), where during off season, she gets to travel and visit colleges to introduce students to KAA. During the summer though, Hannah is their Food Service Director. Her job at KAA is very personal to her. Introducing young people to KAA is personal because, although she grew up as a preacher’s kid, accepted Christ and was baptized at the age of 5 and has memories of encountering the Holy Spirit as far back as first grade, she still counts her sophomore year in college when she went to KAA for the first time, as a pivotal point in her life. 

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That summer at KAA not only allowed her to see what it was like to need Jesus, but it also was the summer she chose Jesus. She didn’t have her parents pushing her or college requiring her, having gone to a private, Christian college, but she made conscious decisions to choose Christ. Yes there were people around her checking in, but she had to choose to spend time with Christ daily. And it was not from a legalistic perspective. She didn’t think, “If I don’t get my quiet time in, Jesus is going to be disappointed in me, but rather, if I am going to successfully get through this day living Jesus’ love, I need to spend some time with Him.” She knew it wasn’t by her own strength that she produced the fruit of the Spirit, but the Holy Spirit that lived within her. 

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Hannah  knew if she was going to get through the summer she needed Jesus. “Our kids need to be poured into. You have to be poured into yourself to be able to pour out,” she says, as she talked about her need for daily quiet time.

She saw God doing radical things at camp that summer and she wanted to see Him continue to do those radical things in and through her personal life. So that summer revealed that she could choose God anywhere.

Specifically, Hannah summarized her #WhatIfChrist Moment like this, “What if I am obedient? God would be able to bless someone through me and I am blessed by being a part of that.” How cool is it to keenly see God using you for His kingdom building?

Our obedience is not just for us, but for all those around us.

Hannah’s #WhatIfChrist Moment is one that turns the world’s thinking upside down. The world teaches us to believe “it is all about us.” The world teaches us to grab all that is before us and hold on to it tightly. But that is not what God’s Word says to us. Genesis 12:2 says as God was talking to Abraham, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

Many don’t get that, but Hannah does and if she doubted, God gave her a “cool” reminder.

So I don’t give away all of what happened and also to help you apply this to many things, I’m going to speak generally and yet specifically.

Hannah was a camp and realized she was holding onto something of value but because she tucked away, it was rendered useless. It was only useless because it was not being used as it was created to be used. So she took her item that possessed value, but wasn’t being used that way to a place to exchange it into a different form so it could begin to be used in they way it was designed to be used, during its present season.

If that were the end of the story, it would still be a good story; transforming that which has been unutilized into that which can be used for its intended purpose. And the very next day, you realized God had nudged you to move and act on the transformation of an item that had been sitting idle; unused for a while. You later see that He had a plan for that very object and if you had not been obedient to the nudging, you would have missed an opportunity to see how God is going before you; knowing what is to come and guiding you into your purpose. God wanted to show Hannah that He is ever present and looking out for her. And in the midst of all that, you realized that God had blessed you so you could be a blessing. 

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Because of your obedience, your faith is strengthened, God is glorified, and others are blessed.

You will want to listen to my full interview to get the specifics, but let’s just think about that with the spotlight on us as a person. Because the principles hold true:

1. be attentive to the Holy Spirit,
   
2. be obedient to His nudging,
   
3. rest in your blessing, and
   
4. look for how you can bless others.

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​You were created with purpose. Looking at 1 Peter 2:9, But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

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​Imagine you are just existing, not really living. You exist without knowing your purpose for we all have purpose. This is a scary place to be because living without purpose can feel hopeless. Perhaps you are living without joy which hinders you from the deep desire to use your gifts and talents for the glory of God and then there is a change:

• your heart is changed,
• your life is transformed and
• you begin to live ​

Then you realize that you were not “just” created, but you are chosen,  a “chosen people.” You realize you are a “royal priesthood;” you have access to God through His Son. You begin to see yourself as a member of a “holy nation;” you are set apart and becoming less and less like the world and more and more like Christ.
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Stop for a minute. Take a deep breath. Really. Close your eyes for a minute just to recalibrate.

Now, breath in this, as if everything else wasn’t enough, “you are God’s special possession;” God has taken possession of you, you belong to Him. He created you; you are His possession and He gave you purpose, “that you may declare His praises.” 

​You get to let the world know you are becoming less and less like the world and more and more like Christ because He called you out of darkness, into the marvelous light.

​You’ll want to hear my full interview with Hannah. There you’ll see exactly what that “thing” was that God blessed her with on one day and on the very next day showed her how she should use it to bless someone else; ​how she was blessed to be a blessing.