The Hum

I remember watching a Ted talk by Shonda Rhimes. She focused on this topic of “the hum.” Her “hum” was the sweet sound she heard as she would write, she explained it as “god’s whisper in her ear.” Her hum is what motivated her to be the “titan” she was and still is to this day. But then, her “hum” left. She was no longer that titan she had claimed to be. Her light went out and writing or creating wasn’t fun anymore. When I think about that “hum,” I think about the salvation we have in Jesus. As christians, that is our “hum!” With that “hum,” we can do anything. Our “hum” is our yes to him!

There is a difference, when we are acting as visitors in God’s home versus when we see God as our home. As a visitor, you only seek Him when you need something, there isn’t any true worship, reverence, or relationship. When God is your home, you rejoice with him 24/7. Your “ Holy Spirit antennas” are always up because you are looking for the next person to share the Gospel with. There is reverence for how powerful and mighty God is, at the same time you stand in awe because He is gentle as He is just. For the past 4 months, I have been on this journey of living in the “hum” or “home of God.

The first ministry my team did when we arrived in Costa Rica, was create a war room. Every morning either one of us or a few of us were up before 6 and coming before the Lord in prayer. We prayed for each other, our squad, our families, our ministry, and the world. We have been warriors for Christ, but it began with being in his presence. It began with coming home. For me “ the hum” is the training ground in which the Lord prepares me to go out and be a solider for his kingdom. The “hum” is sitting with him and listening to Him, and listening to when he is telling me to speak. The “hum” is that in the midst of chaos, I am calm because I am the tabernacle in which the Holy Spirit lives. I am dwelling in my “hum.”

We arrived in Costa Rica Friday morning at 1 am. The weekend started out slow. We went to Bible study and church and were acquainted with the women we were staying with for the month.

We work with a ministry called Teen Challenge, which is a Christian organization that works with addicts of all kinds. They take these addicts through a year long discipleship program in hopes that they will leave their old life and walk with the Lord. There are many success stories, where some participants will become missionaries, leaders, and pastors and some leave the program and relapse. There are 550 Teen Challenge centers worldwide discipling addicts.Teen challenge Costa Rica specifically works with adult drug addicts and prostitutes.

We stay in Penshurt, which is right next to Lim-n. Limon houses one of the biggest drug ports alongside San Jose, which is about 5 hours from where we stay. Limon and Panama’s boarders touch, so a lot of drug trades happen there, which makes Limon one the most dangerous drug ports in the world. San Jose is another dangerous area where a lot of “under the table” drugs deals are happening along with prostituion. Needless to say, both of these places are in need of the Gospel. So we went to give it.

It was Saturday night and Max (our ministry host) came and told us to be ready to leave Monday morning for San José to go evangelize. We were pumped! Why wouldn’t we be, we get to bring God’s kids back to Him! Monday morning comes and we pack up, 10 deep, in a small van where air was limited and we were real close and personal for 5 hours. It wasn’t bad though. Honestly, I was living the dream. We get to San José to a nice hotel, and I always say “if our living conditions are comfortable, we won’t be”….and we were not. In the lobby, Max tells us to take a minute to rest and we were going to start praying. The look on his face made my heart sink. He wasn’t smiling and he became more serious with every word that left his mouth. This was real and we needed to be prayed up. I suddenly became silent and asking the Lord to help as my heart raced to what felt like a 100 beats per second. My “hum” became questionable. Was I really ready to surrender it all for Christ. Or did I want to live in this comfortable box that so many Christians live in today. I chose to remain in that “hum”. And pray, because….well….1 Peter 3:12.

We began prayer at 6pm and stopped around 10pm. We took a coffee break, split into teams and headed out into the streets of San José. As we began up the street my heart continued to race. All I wanted was to go to sleep and maybe take a shot at this tomorrow. But Jesus didn’t die on the cross so I could sleep, He did it so we could live in harmony with our Father and to go and get His children so they can live in that same harmony. It is my duty and my only duty to do that….Ok, I will get off my soapbox and get back to the story. We met our first two people, and we were asked to pray. I thought to myself, if I pray for the rest of the night, that is fine by me. However, the Lord never leaves us in our comfortability.

A few moments later, I met Monica. Monica was a young woman, maybe in her late 30’s walking down the street. As we were praying for other people across the street she stared at us until we cross the street to go talk to her. She began to walk away and then we called out, “Hola!” She turned around and smiled at us and we began to talk to her. Our translator, Mar started speaking to her in Spanish and sharing the gospel with her. Then it happened, the moment I was not waiting for. Mar asked “does anyone have anything to share. Me and my teammate Emily looked at each other and then words began to flow from my mouth. I couldn’t believe it, God had taken over my body and my words too. I put my arm around Monica as passion and love for Monica’s heart to be purified took over my whole self. That “hum” that I was experiencing so heavily in that moment, I wanted Monica to experience it for the rest of her life.

The “hum” is the calm in the chaos. The “hum” is light in the darkness. The “hum” is God’s peace when 3 people come up to you and tell you to turn around because the street you’re about to walk down is too dangerous. Every person we came into contact with that night broke my heart because they didn’t have a “hum.” The Devil was their master and he had them so bound. There is a “hum” for them, they just won’t receive it. They would rather be satisfied by temporary fixes instead of an eternal one. What is even sadder, is that this is no different from you or me, or the person you sit next to in church or in small group every week. Or the Christian friend that you meet for coffee or the worship leader/ pastor you are listening to online.

We are so consumed by our temporary fixes (marriage, children, beautiful homes, the clothes we wear, the songs we sing, etc…) We really don’t know what the “hum” is either. We aren’t concerned making the Gospel first or making sure that we share it wherever we go. Just like Shonda, we have lost our “hum.” See, the “hum” is home. The home is our temples. The temple is our bodies in which the Holy Spirit lives. The “hum” is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is home. The place where we must reside at all times and at all costs. But we are not home, we are just visitors. We act like spoiled rich kids, only coming to him when we need a blessing. We are using Him. There is no reverence, just rituals and checked boxes.

God is worthy of our praise, our time and our entire beings. God came and created this world and man. But then man failed him and sinned. God could no longer live in harmony with us, but he still wanted to be friends with us. So he made a plan and sent His son to die for all sins of all people past, present, and future, so that we can live in harmony once again. That is the Gospel! Praise God! Those who have received that Gospel are now in the “hum,” in the home of christ, and now it is our duty to share it with others. People of God rise up and come home and while you’re at it….bring whoever will come!

Song Suggestion: “Heal Our Land” by: Maverick City Music