I have to write these things down. I have to. I don’t want to forget.
God knows what we need, when we need it. This year’s winter camp is proof. For some weeks preceding winter camp, I was excited. I was excited because I was in dire need of refreshment and renewal and I was eager to see God work. I was also a little afraid. I was afraid because in addition to needing refreshment and renewal, I needed repentance. But I wanted to pretend so badly that I didn’t.
Two of my favorite lessons from camp are: 1) The lesson from Leviticus on burnt offerings and 2) the lesson on denial from the Celebrate Recovery workshop. The two went hand in hand.
Let me backtrack for a sec and begin with our theme verse.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” –Romans 12:1-2
Okay, anywho, Leviticus 1 discusses burnt sacrifices. Although we don’t sacrifice animals anymore (because it is no longer necessary because of Jesus’ completed work on the cross), there are parallels between the various offerings found in Leviticus and the command to us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices.
Pastor Lem discussed three offerings, but I’m focusing on one for now, the one that really convicted me: The burnt offering.
The burnt offering discussed in Leviticus 1 has a very important major theme: all.
“He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water, and the priest is to bring all of it and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.”
This relates to the way we offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God in the fact that God demands us in our entirety, which can be pretty scary.
Coming into camp, there were things that I was holding onto, things that were keeping me from truly giving all of myself to God. Things that I didn’t want to keep struggling with, yet continued to hide because of the false fears that I was giving in to; fears like I was the only one, that no one else would be able to relate, and that people would get the wrong idea if I shared it and label me as "the girl who struggles with so-and-so." Then came our Celebrate Recovery workshop. Praise. The. Lord.
The focus of the workshop was being transparent with each other and confessing to each other the things that we were in denial about. It was difficult. Pastor Lem compared it to surgery. It is really painful, but it heals. In that workshop, we were all able to confess to things we were struggling with. And, in doing so, we were essentially “sacrificing” those things to God, and being healed by Him. No longer were we hiding them shamefully, but instead offering them up in order to please Him. As Pastor Lem said, “When you sacrifice something to the Lord, you open up the opportunity for a blessing.” Since then, God hasn’t stopped pouring out the blessings. Let me just list a few.
-Hearing the other college girls say that they were struggling with the same thing I was.
-As a result, being relieved and encouraged that I wasn’t alone,
-Forming an accountability team with them and getting to know them better,
-Being able to learn from their experiences,
-Being able to hold them accountable as well,
-Not having to put up a front anymore, and instead being real.
There’s so much more. Winter Camp was amazing. God really worked. He moved in all of us. Praise Him. I’m looking forward to how He’ll continue to reveal Himself.
Praise God.
