Following the Nudge

“Do you know what your spiritual gift is?”

Ms. F asked me this question while we were sitting on the swings one day at camp at the beginning of April. It was something that I hadn’t thought about in a while.

“I know I have one, but I don’t remember what it is,” I replied at first. Then I suddenly remembered, “Wait, it’s encouragement.”

I find it interesting that she asked me that question because then, on a Sunday about a week later, the pastor at the church my family and I have been attending preached a message on what makes Jesus happy. The part that stood out to me the most was about serving, as he discussed how using our spiritual gifts is a way to share the Gospel and strengthen fellow believers. 

I began to wonder what I could do to serve. As 1st Peter 4:10-11 says, 

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

My parents have always told me I have a way with words, which made me think more about that conversation with Ms. F and the longing for an opportunity during that Sunday message. Little did I know that the Lord would bring me one so soon.

The Prompt

Whenever I go to youth group, I watch my peers. It’s my way of seeing how they are as people and even believers in God. Once returning from camp, I noticed that one of my friends seemed bothered, so I began praying for him. There was never an opportune time for me to ask if he was okay, so I asked the Lord, “What can I do to encourage him?” 

One day, the Lord impressed it upon my heart to write him a letter. I was worried because I had had promptings like that before, but I never followed through with them, merely because I feared what the other person might think.

If we want to glorify the Lord with our lives, we must respond to His promptings. It’s not only an act of obedience, but it shows our willingness. Are we willing to do anything for the Lord, even if it’s out of our comfort zone?

The Doing

To be honest, I was scared. I had no idea what to write, and I wondered countless times if my observation was wrong. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop me and I began praying to the Lord to give me the words to write.

One day during my quiet time, the words started flowing in my brain. I quickly grabbed some paper and wrote a two-page letter. Though, once I wrote his name on the envelope and sealed it up, I began to doubt.

What if my words don’t encourage him? Because these are things he has probably heard all his life, will he disregard it? I thought those questions countless times.

I held onto that letter for four days before I would see him again, and every day, there was a knot in my stomach. I indeed was worried that the letter wouldn’t mean anything. 

However, you know what I was reminded of later?

I did it. And because I did it, I brought the Lord glory because I obeyed His prompting. 

It doesn’t matter what we feel about our execution. What matters is that we were willing to obey and trusted the Lord to show us what we needed to do. Thus, we don’t have to worry about execution when we allow Him to guide and show us how to do those tasks. James 1:22 says,

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourself.”

The Bible says that we are to obey the Lord, which means when He is leading us to do something, we must deny ourselves and our desire to back out. Doing the Kingdom work is about pointing others to Him, which may include doing something out of our comfort zone. 

Living a life for Christ was never meant to be simple as it challenges us due to our flesh that fights against the desires of the Lord. If you want to be a doer of the word and obedient to God, you must be willing to surrender your lack of urgency to Him so that you are filled with a fire to do what He asks of you.

The Outcome

April 22nd.

While preparing for youth group that morning, I prayed for the Lord to show me when to give the letter. I was nervous about giving it to him, hoping he wouldn’t get the wrong idea before opening the letter. Or his friends seeing and potentially teasing him. I even contemplated not giving him the letter that day, but something changed my mind.

Before our recreation time, the girls wrote messages in a few birthday cards for some of the boys. When Ms. F got a hold of a couple of them, she said, “Girls, you should write more than just “Happy birthday!” We’re supposed to encourage them.”

That last sentence stayed ingrained in my mind and felt like more of a prompting to give him the letter.

Ultimately, I handed it to him silently once youth group was over and then quickly left the church to go home. It wasn’t my ideal way, but I thanked the Lord for giving me the courage to do it. I rejoiced then, but I rejoiced even more when Sunday morning came. 

As I left the service and began walking to where my parents waited to pick me up, he walked past me and suddenly stopped me. 

“Thank you for the letter,” he started. “It really encouraged me. It’s honestly hard to believe it was from you, like it had to be a God thing because you had this heightened awareness. You’ve only been here for a short time and just knew there was something wrong…that shows a maturity and sensitivity I’ve never seen in anyone.” {paraphrase}

As he continued talking, I kept saying in my mind, “Thank you, Lord.”

If I hadn’t obeyed the Lord’s prompting, my friend would’ve never been encouraged in the way that he needed. God used the words He gave me to speak to him in a way I never thought possible. I also realized I shouldn’t have worried so much about it. I knew that the prompting was from Him, so I didn’t need to worry; everything was going to work out in the way He desired. 

God always knows what He is doing, so we can trust Him. Though we don’t see how everything will work out in the end, we can be comforted knowing that our actions glorified Him because we obeyed.

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Are you willing to follow the nudge? Don’t be afraid but surrender the fear and instead trust His plan.

To God be the glory,