This is a season of awakening. It’s a time of laying down what we used to hold tightly onto. Distractions, busy work, unhealthy relationships, idols in our hearts, jobs, or false identities. As the church, we are being forced to lay these things down and have an awakening of who we really are. An awakening of what God is doing in the world. An awakening of the power of the Holy Spirit. An awakening of the dead bones we thought would never come to life again. An awakening of our souls. We are coming back to life. We are being shaken and stirred by our Father in Heaven. We won’t be the same after this.

WISE school opened my eyes to a whole world I knew nothing about.

In these last few months, I’ve been participating in the WISE secondary school here in Los Angeles. During this school, I’ve experienced God like never before. I’ve been awakened to the Holy Spirit in fresh ways and set on fire for what God is doing in this era. WISE took me on a journey of first being awakened to the things in my own heart I had let die. It was insanely exposing, but so needed. God showed me how much I had fallen asleep. I’d chosen to fall asleep to the Holy Spirit and not recognize what God was doing. I had chosen to almost silence God’s voice in certain areas and limited Him in my life.

Throughout WISE we talked a lot about spiritual warfare and how much it really is a part of our daily lives. At first, I wasn’t so sure about this part of the school. I didn’t want to become “overly spiritual” or weird. I was almost afraid at what would happen and cautious to stay in my little bubble of who I thought Holy Spirit was. Oftentimes, I put Holy Spirit in a box and didn’t allow Him to completely change and transform my mind. I almost used Holy Spirit as an “it” to be summoned rather than a person who wants a relationship with me. As I started to grasp who He was, I began to slowly change.

I started to become okay with things like dancing before God, practicing the gifts of the Spirit freely, stepping into discomfort, and speaking up in situations I wouldn’t have before. Holy Spirit started to be a person I invited into daily life rather than a “power” I used once in a while during prayer. This school opened my eyes to Holy Spirit and the whole spiritual realm that was around me.

I was awakened to the realization that everything is spiritual

Every moment matters. Do we really believe that? Even COVID-19 didn’t surprise God. Do we believe that everything has purpose? When we head to school or work on the bus, are we paying attention to the people around us? As we go throughout our day, we meet countless faces, go through many hard or joyful situations, and have many opportunities to see what God is doing. The question is this: are we paying attention? Are we paying attention to what the Holy Spirit is doing in our daily lives? Sure, we look forward to the big moments in our lives. The moment when we finally are doing what we’ve dreamed of doing for all our lives. The moment we have a prayer answered after years of seeking God. The moment we finally get a big promotion in our job.

But what about the small moments? The moments of cleaning toilets day in and day out. The moments we are doing a job that seems insignificant to our bigger dreams or calling. The moments of meeting strangers in the streets that seem completely ordinary. Recently, I’ve felt God asking me to just pay attention because everything is spiritual. Everything is significant. Another thing WISE taught me is to simply be aware of what God is doing. That small connection with someone in the coffee shop could be a future connection that leads me into my calling. The job that you may not see the value in could be equipping you for the future God has in store for you.

This realization has changed the way I live. It causes me to constantly pause, reflect, ask God, and be present. Knowing everything is spiritual has made me see God in every moment. It’s made me love deeper, work harder, be better, and so hopeful. Hopeful because I now see the significance in things I didn’t value before. Hopeful because I see what God is doing in my life and the lives of others. Hopeful for what is coming and the breakthrough I am receiving. Hopeful because I now see Holy Spirit is constantly on the move even if it’s behind the scenes.

I was awakened to living in freedom

As I have slowly awakened to these realizations, I’ve come to know what freedom really looks like. I used to think I was free, and I probably was to an extent. But now I know there is a whole level of freedom I wasn’t even touching. This freedom comes with knowing that Holy Spirit is always speaking to me, God is using every small moment to craft my life, and everything is intentional. Knowing these things have made me intentional to slow down, listen to God, and see what He wants me to do or say.

It’s made me stop after having a conversation with someone and asking God what He was trying to speak to me during that conversation. It’s made me steward my heart in a new way and continually seek God when I feel hurt, angry, or tired. It’s made me see God everywhere I go, seeing what He is doing and inviting me into it. This has awakened my sleeping soul. I used to be asleep to what Holy Spirit was saying, different lies I was agreeing with over my life, and the bondage I was living in. However, now I see that God has immense breakthrough in store for all of us. All we have to do is pay attention and allow our souls to awaken to God.

Will you wake up?

Like I said in the beginning, this is a season of awakening. There have been countless surprises this year, political tension, increased division, and loss of jobs and life. I believe God is allowing this shaking to happen in order to wake up His people. Have we chosen to unintentionally fall asleep to His voice and the freedom we can have? Have we chosen to numb our pain with distractions and busywork? Have we lost focus of our first love? I believe God is calling us to rise up once again. Rise up and fight for our freedom, fight for love, fight for unity in the body, fight for one another, fight for breakthrough. It’s our time to wake up. Will you wake up?