She describes herself as more Malibu Barbie than G.I. Jane, but that doesn’t stop Lenya Heitzig from following God into the world’s jungles and deserts to minister to the broken. I love that Lenya confidently strapped a Barbie to her pack as she entered the jungles of Burma as a reminder when she felt out-of-place or like she didn’t belong that she was exactly where God wanted her. In her book Reload Love, Lenya shares how when her heart was breaking for refugees and children impacted by war, God showed up and gave her a job to do. Come, take a seat on the farm’s front porch and join me in welcoming Lenya…

guest post by Lenya Heitzig

The shower is where most of my best ideas come to me.

I had been watching the news one night and learned for the first time about Syria’s leader Bashar al-Assad dropping sarin gas on a village. There were children living there.

I was so traumatized that someone could do that not only to people in general but specifically to children.

I remember seeing the photo of a man wearing a medical mask, standing in the midst of more than 30 very small bodies wrapped in white sheets, and videos of sick children writhing in pain, weeping while groups of people tried to help them.

These images from the news churned and churned inside me, combining with a completely different experience: I had also recently been on a fashion website and noticed a cool bracelet made not out of sterling silver but out of brass.

All these thoughts and images and dreams spun around in my mind right in the shower the next morning. My mind began to latch onto new ideas, poking at them, turning them over and over.

Huh, I thought. Brass. That would probably be cheaper than sterling silver.

Another moment passed.

Aren’t bullets made out of brass? I wonder if you could make bracelets from spent bullet casings.

I wasn’t concerned with my shower anymore. I had found a trail, and I was following it to the end. I thought I might be on to something.

Using bullet cases would be upcycling. Everyone’s into that right now.

I jumped out of the shower and went straight to my computer. I typed “spent bullet casings” into the search engine. What I found stopped me in my tracks: Spent bullet casings are available by the bucket load.

Most people don’t reuse them, and if you could prove you were going to manipulate them or mutilate the case so they could no longer be used as bullets, even the military would give them to you.

I started making phone calls immediately that would eventually lead to the start of my company raising awareness and bringing hope to children traumatized by war.

This is the heart of the matter: God can do anything.

If you want to have an encounter with Him, you have to be willing to bump up against Him, keep searching for direction, keep looking. You have to seek Him.

Even in the shower.

Then, as you seek God, instead of thinking of all the reasons something might not work, start asking different questions.

Why not me?

Why not my dream?

Why can’t this thing I’ve been burdened with, why can’t these desires that fill me, come to fruition?

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him (Psalm 37:4-7 esv).

If we delight in God, He will transform our desires so that they match up with His desires.

Maybe God is calling you to feed the homeless or start a business or volunteer somewhere. Trust Him. Don’t think the idea is crazy or way more than you could possibly do.

When I have a thought like the one I had in the shower, I stop.

I commit that thought to Him.

I make a plan and start taking steps forward, and I trust that God will open and close doors, that He will guide me along the path.

There is no pressure on me at that point, as long as I keep taking steps forward!

The success or failure of the venture is God’s to determine! My responsibility is to keep moving.

Sometimes those ideas that “just pop into your head” are from God. Take them seriously.

When an idea drops into your brain, as if from nowhere, realize it might not be your idea—it might be God’s idea, given to you, the person He most wants to run with it.

Ask Him.

God, is that You?

God, do You really want me to do this?

God’s voice is always easily discernible because it’s full of grace. 

The enemy’s voice, on the other hand, is also easily discernible, because all he wants to do is to kill and destroy.

He comes to us in the guise of envious thoughts, hateful thoughts, destructive thoughts.

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27 esv).

When you hear the voice of the Shepherd, you will know it.

When you hear the voice of the Shepherd, follow it.

 

Lenya Heitzig’s heart is to reach out to hurting people through tangible acts of love. She is the founder of Reload Love, a ministry which touches the lives of children affected by terrorism through raising awareness, relief efforts, and turning battlegrounds into playgrounds. Lenya also serves as the executive director of she Ministries at Calvary Church where she serves alongside her husband and senior pastor, Skip.

Reload Love is the story of one woman who refused to look away from atrocities on her television screen, allowed her heart to break at the plight of refugees and children, and then begged God for a job to do. God answered those prayers in an epic way.

Experience the hope found in children’s playgrounds as you journey with Lenya through the jungles of Burma and the war-torn streets of the Middle East. Though the shape of your heart and passion may look different, find hope and inspiration in ordinary people going to incredible lengths to share God’s life-giving love.

[ Our humble thanks to Harvest House for their partnership in today’s devotion ]