God Speaks

​God Speaks
            There have been multiple times in my life when God has spoken to me. As I’m sure most of you can say as well. However, God is always speaking to us. The real question is are we listening?
            I want to share these moments with you in hope that the presence of the Lord will be shared. Next time you experience something big in your life or maybe something small, get in tune with God and listen for his voice. It will be heard.
           
New Zealand
            I was 15 years old, I sent in my story to Skype and I was waiting to hear if I would meet my best friend. I have never been so nervous and excited. My parents didn’t want me to get my hopes up and I remember them saying, “Sarah stay calm, it might not happen, don’t get too excited, it is in God’s hands.”
            The words that really stuck with me was that it was in God’s hands. You see…. I worried a lot. Whether it was before a cross-country meet, before a big test, or just that I didn’t want to disappoint anyone, I was always worrying.
            When I got the news I cried. I cried happy tears, that this was in God’s plan for my life. But I had no idea what would happen.
            I am a planner, I like to know what I am doing everyday at what time and I have my weeks planned out for me, while that might be a good thing it is also a bad thing. During this time in my life I learned a very valuable lesson. That it is not my time’s but instead God’s timing.
            During this process I had to take many weeks off of school, one for filming, one for New Zealand and one after that I hadn’t expected. This meant that I had to learn on my own, I was taking challenging classes at the time such as chemistry and science is my least favorite subject so I was worried about my grades. But something happened to me during these few weeks….. typically I would worry and worry about my grades and getting everything done. However, God took ahold of me this week and said to me, “Sarah do not worry for I am with you, I will help you through this, trust me.”
            I did just that, I lived in the moment these few weeks and no longer worried about my future. I trusted God’s word and his voice. I knew that he has a plan for my life and that I should not worry but instead trust in him and follow the path that he had before me.
 
A door opened
            Without my faith I don’t know where I would be today. My faith is very important to me. My best friend does not know Christ and I have always wanted that door to open but I try not to rip it open but instead just plant one seed at a time. During my trip many seeds were planted and a door opened. She asked me who God is and what I believe in.
 
Miss Indiana
            I went into this journey feeling very prepared thanks to my team and I had no idea what would happen or come out of it. I didn’t really have one goal in mind going into it, I just wanted to follow the path God had planned for me. I prayed a lot this week and every time I got on the bus or was in my dressing room I wrote a prayer in my prayer box.
 
What I am about to tell you next won’t make sense unless I tell you this story first.
 
As a kid when my mum got a headache she would ask me to lay my head on her head to take her headache away. This sounds crazy but it was a thing. I believe that God gives everyone gifts and I am not sure but I think this might me one of mine. When I put my head on my mums’s I could feel a sensation of pain come into my head then when I took my head off hers the pain would leave.
           
            So, during the week of Miss Indiana, someone there could not speak due to her throat hurting and she had lost her voice. I knew she was a strong Christian and when we were backstage I asked If I could put my hands on her throat and pray over her before we went on stage. She said yes, as I placed my hands on her neck I did not feel that pain but I felt God’s presence.
            After I prayed it was time for me to practice my dance number, as I sat waiting backstage and once I got on stage to dance my throat began to feel excruciating pain, it felt as if it was getting hard to breath.
            I can’t explain this but I know it was God.
 
            During this week I learned so much about myself. This week I heard God’s voice the clearest I ever had. When they announced top 10, I went back to my dressing room and prayed, and God said to me, “Sarah this is not the plan I have for you, I have a different plan for your life.” After these words I was so humbled in knowing that God has a different plan for me and I trust in that plan, whatever it may be.
 
My Advice:
Know that God is with you always, listen for his voice and you will hear him speak to you. Pray continuously and life live not in your time but instead in God’s time. ‘For I know the plans I have for you declares the lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’
 
Sarah Stump