Louie Giglio encourages students to trust God’s timing

Liberty University’s Vines Center was packed for Convocation on Friday as 2,600 guests joined more than 10,000 current students to kick off College for a Weekend (CFAW) and hear from well-known pastor Louie Giglio.

Before the main message, Liberty alumnus Mark DeMoss, a member of the Board of Trustees and the president and founder of The DeMoss Group, was welcomed onstage with Flames kicker John Lunsford, who recently broke DeMoss’ record for the longest field goal at Liberty. Lunsford kicked a 60-yard field goal during Liberty’s Homecoming game against the Richmond Spiders, which broke the school’s record (as well as the Big South Conference record) and landed on ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10 Plays of the Day.

DeMoss congratulated Lunsford, then introduced Louie Giglio, pastor of Passion City Church and founder of the Passion Movement, which hosts annual conferences that focus on spiritual awakening on college campuses.

Mark DeMoss, a Liberty University alumnus and current Board of Trustees member, congratulates Flames Football kicker John Lunsford for breaking his longstanding field goal record this year.

“While churches across the country are constantly experimenting with new methods to remain relevant, Louie Giglio has proven that worshiping God, the God of the universe, and studying his Word never stops being relevant,” DeMoss said.

Giglio used Psalm 37: 3-5 to challenge students to first trust God, cultivate faithfulness, delight in the Lord, and make the Lord the desire of their hearts. He reminded students that God cannot be forced into their five- or 10-year plans.

“God does not think about you and think things like, ‘average,’’ Giglio said. “He’s thinking, ‘I want to take you on a grand and epic adventure that will blow your mind and whatever you are dreaming about, it ain’t big enough.’”

Giglio said God’s will is not hidden like a needle in a haystack, but rather is a lifestyle that should be lived faithfully each day while waiting for God’s leading.

“Nothing gets lost in the timing of God,” Giglio said. “He’s working it all into a beautiful plan for you. All you’ve got to do today, all I have to do today, is just open my hands and say I trust in the Lord.”

He illustrated the act of trusting God by telling the story of a previous job he held as a copier at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For hours each day, Giglio would faithfully copy thousands of articles for the doctors. He used the time to worship and talk to God. When Giglio left the job years later, the CDC was forced to hire three people to replace him.

“In the waiting mode, keep doing the very best at what God has put right in front of you, but let your attitude be, ‘I am trusting in a great sovereign God to orchestrate the affairs of my life,’” Giglio said.

As an example, Giglio used the life of Abraham to demonstrate a life devoted to God. Abraham left what was comfortable and trusted God to lead him. Giglio said individuals want the promise of blessings Abraham received but are not willing to suffer as he did.

“There are no shortcuts to God’s great adventure. You just can’t jump over the learning curve,” Giglio said. “You have to go through the proving ground of character.”