Shea Lowery: Lives Being Restored

Everyone's Story is honored and thrilled to host Shea Lowery this week, a woman fueled with a mission to spread God's awesomeness. Shea is the Executive Director of Lives Being Restored. The ministry's goal is to "share with children, teenagers, and adults the love of Jesus Christ, His powerful gospel story, and His desire to restore wounded and broken lives," traveling to schools, drug and alcohol rehab centers, homeless shelters and churches. This is why when Shea contacted me to query about appearing on this blog I did not hesitate. Please extend a warm welcome and encouragement to Shea. Both Shea and I look forward to hearing from you.

What I Need To Share With Others by Shea Lowery

For many years I had a heart for reaching people for Christ. But not until a few years ago did I experience a true heart change. After many years of going back and forth in my walk with Christ, I rededicated my life to Him and He began an amazing work. He stepped on the scene of my life and began to strip things from me that needed to go. Light has three functions, one of which is to reveal what is there. God turned on His light switch in my heart and revealed its true condition. He then began His work.

The molding and shaping process was difficult yet so rewarding. For the next several years, God would work in my life in amazing ways. He would teach me the importance of forgiveness, the value of waiting rooms, the importance of prayer and many other wonderful lessons. But there were a few gray areas I lived in, gray areas I deemed small and insignificant. It would be months later that I would learn just how dangerous those gray areas really were.

Because true surrender under God’s authority had never taken place, I would soon find myself wandering from my Father once again. I quickly found myself on a road, heading toward an exit I did not need to take.

God was warning me to get off this particular road but I rationalized that it would be okay. In fact, I told God, "I have got this,” and continued down the same path. Yet God’s persistence of showing red flags and convicting my heart continued even as I ignored the Spirit’s heeding.

It is of great importance to note that when God sees danger in our lives, He will caution us in many different ways. He reached out in every way possible to stop me from the hurt that was down the road but I thought I knew best. Just like the prodigal son who decided to take a journey apart from his father’s leading, I too took a journey that brought much hurt and pain to so many people.

I took the exit that God had been warning me was coming. And from that decision came one of the biggest times of brokenness ever in my life. I remember falling into my bed one night saying, “Lord, You won’t forgive me this time.” Yet too my amazement, He poured so much love into my heart and held me close through a very broken time in my life. I had broken His heart with my sin, but His love for me never changed.

As time went by, great consequences came because of my sin. I lost the respect of others as well as a ministry I loved. The discipline of being broken and the resulting sadness was almost more than I thought I could bear. I remember thinking, “I may not make it through.” But God's hands picked me up from out of a pit and showed me His love, mercy, and grace. From a time of repentance and brokenness came His forgiveness and restoration.

The time came when God called me to share my story. He took me by the hand and led me through open doors to share His story for His glory. As I shared my testimony with others, I began to see God’s hand at work in other people’s lives.

I have moved forward with the Lord as He has continued to bring restoration to my life. If I am going to experience all that God has for me, then I must continue to move forward with Him. Paul said it best in Philippians 3:13, “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.”

So many people today are hurting in this world. They need to hear, “There is hope.” And when we share our stories of God’s redemption and restoration, people will find hope. I am so thankful for what Jesus has done, and continues to do, in my life. I want to share with this world the love and restoration story of Jesus Christ.

My theme verse is Acts 20:24. It states, “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.” And this is what life is all about — sharing with others the Gospel message.

I believe there are many who feel God doesn't love them because of their past. They are living every day in defeat and in sadness. I want to share with them God's love for them and His desire to restore their lives. He is in the business of “Lives Being Restored.” I know this first hand because I am a person He redeemed, rescued and restored. I know my God today in a way I have never known before and I will never be the same again.

Shea's Ah-hahs To Tweet:

Everyone has a story: Meet Shea Lowery @shea_lowery founder of Lives Being Restored (Tweet This)

Shea Lowery: How does God act when He sees danger in our lives? (Tweet This)

Shea Lowery @shea_lowery shares how God wants to restore your life. (Tweet This)

Author's Bio:

Shea Lowery is a passionate speaker, writer, and daughter of Christ. The main theme of her story is a life restored. Shea has personally walked this journey and has a strong desire to share with others the hope and restoration that Christ longs to bestow upon all of His beloved children.

She places no limitations on God and allows Him to freely lead her to the places that He chooses to send her to share. You can find Shea at various speaking engagements not limited to conference centers, homeless shelters, churches, rehabilitation centers and football fields. Her simple, deep desire is to reach ladies and youth with the love of Christ, no matter their walk of life, and she’s willing to go and do whatever it takes in order to reach them.

Shea loves being a mother to her two children and a nana to her two grand boys. She loves being surrounded by her family and cherishes the many special times they spend together.

Shea earned a Christian ministry degree from Blue Mountain College in Blue Mountain, Miss. and is currently working on a master's degree in Biblical counseling at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. She also is writing her first women's Bible study on restoration and will be teaching it at her church in Texas in the fall of 2015.

Connect with Shea at:

Website

Facebook

Twitter for Shea

Twitter for LRestored