Photos by Ralph Freso Slideshow
With relentless energy and the aid of a music stand and ladder, Megan Fate Marshman let Grand Canyon University students know that God will meet them wherever they are at – no matter what condition they are in.
“If you're kind of tired, that's where he wants to meet you,” said Marshman, director of women’s ministries at Hume Lake Christian Camps in Southern California, at Monday Chapel in Global Credit Union Arena.
“If you're angry, that's where he wants to meet you, if you're grieving, that's where he'll meet you. He wants to meet you. He wants to love you, and he can't love or meet a false version of you. He can only meet you right where you're at.”
Marshman convinced a large portion of students to admit their minds might have wandered while praying, only to pause and apologize.
“Can I say some surprising?” Marshman asks. “A wandering mind in prayer is a gift ... this is the precise place, the area of your life God actually wants to talk to you about.”
A wandering mind could be an indication of the one place you are keeping from God despite trusting Him for eternal salvation. Anxieties in friendships, drama and tests make one feel that we must do this by ourselves, Marshman espouses.
“Is that wild?” says Marshman, adding that we have the Psalms because “God truly wants to meet you students there.”
Marshman adjusts a music stand to illustrate God’s invisible qualities through His creation “because creation screams Creator because everything that was ever created” was created on purpose and with a purpose.
“You know what's crazy about worship leaders?” Marshman asks. “We got the tall ones. And then we got the nugget size ones, and so they created that (adjustable music stands) on purpose. Because everything that was created was created on purpose, friends. That includes you.”
As Marshman climbs up a ladder, she talks about how one may attend Sunday mass in addition to Monday chapel and reading the Bible, only to step down due to a lack of involvement.
Marshman states that every world religion has someone trying to claim their way to God, that the distinction between Christianity and every other world religion rests with the ladder and the words “but, God.”
“Here’s the distinction,” Marshman discloses. “Because God knew that you could not climb up the ladder to get to him. Why? Because God is holy. He is perfect. He is here, which means that ladder is infinite. Good luck, because our God knew that you couldn't climb up the ladder to get to him. He climbed down the ladder to get to you.”
Furthermore, Marshman emphasizes, “I don't know where we got that idea that God doesn't look on sin. Because the truth is he hung out with sinners all the time. He came to them, lived the perfect life that we haven't, thus earning a perfect relationship with God the Father, a perfect relationship he earned. We earned death.”
Apologizing to a friend when you have made an error might cause some uncertainty over the friend’s reaction.
But that is offset by Jesus’ love and support for you, Marshman said. That becomes evident after wondering how a friend will respond to an apology for a mistake.
“It's like this,” Marshman said. “ ‘I love you. I love you. I love you, and I'm with you, I'm with you and I'm with you.’
“Maybe the spirit is prompting you to say ‘yes, you've done all of this.’ And yet my life and depression feel so heavy, I feel like I’m battling this by myself.’ And you can be honest there, too, because he understands pain. Wherever you’re at, say yes to Jesus.”
Before the Worship Team performed for 20 minutes, University Pastor Tim Griffin implored students about the importance of bonding in the wake of the death of freshman Kerrigan Jones in a motorcycle accident on February 27.
“We need to be grateful for these opportunities to be together because life is incredibly precious,” Griffin said. “It’s fragile, and heaven is just a step away.”
Next Chapel: There will be no Chapel on Monday, March 11, because of spring break. The alumni band will lead an all-worship Chapel on March 18 at GCU Arena.
GCU News Senior Writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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