"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." -Galatians 5:1

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" -Romans 8:1

I think I underestimated what this last week would be like. I knew the general idea, I knew it’d be huge, but I wasn’t prepared for just how mightily God would move in the hearts of the DTS. Thankfully, God’s plans are greater than ours could ever be. And my goodness, what a plan He had for the past few days…

Basically, this past week was all about breaking free of anything that’s formed our identity besides God. Such an important thing to do before going out to minister to others. It always blows me away to hear someone’s story and struggles. We ALL have junk in our lives, often imposed on us and sometimes chosen by us. For example- divorce, abuse, abandonment, addictions, eating disorders, self hatred, unforgiveness (of self or others), depression- this list goes on and on. And most of us don’t just struggle with one thing. There are several parts to what “breaking free” means, including identifying the issue, asking God for forgiveness, asking God to reveal the root of the issue, and declaring freedom from it according to God’s word. Perhaps the biggest challenge of this week is when all of this is shared in the open amongst the group. Many people have never admitted any of their struggles, and continue to remain in a solitary prison because of it. But the beauty of outwardly sharing in this setting is that you are immediately surrounded by support and encouragement to break free. Imagine sharing your story with close friends; imagine them weeping with you for what’s been lost and wrongly done; imagine having them pray over you and speak truth to you; imagine getting something off your chest that you’ve been carrying and believing in for YEARS. It’s powerful. And believe me when I say that there is literally a physical change in most people afterwards. You look at them and see an actual difference in their appearance. Our students aren’t the same as they were a week ago…all because they took a risk and trusted God and asked Him to be free.

It was an exhausting week. After hearing so many heartbreaking stories and crying a few buckets worth, it’s all you can do not to sleep for the entire weekend. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

God is so good.