1 Kings 8: You Said, Hillsong Worship

Every time I read this verse or something similar, I hear “You Said” by Hillsong Worship. AND Just like that, I’m back in Mexico—19 years old, fresh out of my freshman year of college, standing in a hot room with YWAM, volunteering for the summer as a staff member!

That night, like many others, they gave a call for full-time missions. Everything in me wanted to say yes. I knew the Lord was calling me. Also… I also felt the Lord say no. Excuse me?! I didn’t understand it. I was saying yes to the very thing He commands in Scripture—go into all the nations and make disciples. How could that be the wrong direction?

I now see it wasn’t the calling that was wrong. It was just the method I had attached to it. I thought “nations” as In foreign soil and missions trips. I thought “yes” had to look like what I was seeing all around me. I didn’t realize at the time that God was calling me into full-time Kingdom work—it was just going to look very different. Over the years, that "no" has turned into an entirely different yes. Now I find myself ministering to people in business spaces, on phone calls, in real estate deals, through fostering, and through early-morning Bible chapters with women across the country. It’s not the traditional path I imagined when I stood in that room in Mexico—but it’s still missions. It’s still the nations. It’s still discipleship.

Reading 1 Kings 8:34 reminded me that God is always bringing us back—not just to physical lands, but to promises and places He prepared in advance for us to walk in. This was an emotional read for me this morning. It took me back to that moment in Mexico where I felt the call—and I still believe He called me. He just had a different picture in mind. It's still unfolding it.