One Year in Five Minutes.

I came across my five minute speech for when I graduated INSIGHT in May of 2010. It's as true now as it was then. Thank you God for your goodness!

      I came to Insight expecting to learn more of God and missions and cultures but I hadn't expected to learn so much of God's intimate love of me. Each time I told God I wanted to serve and love others I heard from Him "Eden, first you need to be loved by me. You still have fear. I desire to perfect you with my love. You still walk as a slave. I want to teach you what it means to be a daughter. You desire to comfort others, first let me comfort you." God has been drawing me close to His heart and loving me deeply through the body of Christ here at Insight and through His Word. He's been teaching me about fear. I've learned that the thing you fear consumes you. The thing you fear is all you can think about, nothing else matters - it becomes your all consuming passion. Abba desires to be this source of all our attention, our one consuming passion. Once He has all attention, His perfect love drives out our fear. First John says there is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear. He says, the one who fears has not yet been perfected by love. His love is powerful, it is personal, it is healing.
      In the last months this perfect love has freed me from fear, it's freeing me from anxiety, worry, and insecurity. It's released me to a joy I hadn't known. I want to share with you something really simple and really profound. I used to surrender my life to God and it was the scariest thing I could do. I'd get on my knees each evening and sign my name in the back of my Bible. It was like opening my life to the worst and scariest things I could imagine. But now, I surrender and it makes me want to laugh and sing and dance. Not because I know the road ahead, or I think it will be all paved and wonderful. But because I know God loves me and so I can trust Him.
      I don't know what I wanted for the nations, and the oppressed, and the hurting before now. But now, I look into the eyes of a person - I look into your eyes tonight - and my hearts cry is that you would know this love and that your joy may be full.