The moment I put my feet on the floor, a soft light from under the bed turned on and lit up the area. I’d never seen such a feature in all my hotel stays and was glad I wouldn’t have to grope through the darkness. My pinky toe was still recovering from a painful encounter with an unseen bedframe six months earlier.
As I took my first step toward the bathroom, Psalm 119:105 came to mind: “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path” (NLT).
Even in the wee hours of the night, the Holy Spirit was teaching me (Psalm 16:7), providing a beautiful example of how God’s written Word, complete with all its commands, lessons, and promises, as well as His spoken Word (revealed through His Holy Spirit), could light up any darkness and reveal the way to move forward.
What caught my attention was the softness of the light. It was comforting, not harsh. And it was close. It wouldn’t illuminate my entire day’s journey, but it did light the area around my feet. It gave me just enough light to safely move forward at that moment.
So often, I’ve wished God would pull out His holy floodlight and let me see all the details of a plan so I could feel better about taking the first step. But since committing to follow Him, I’ve learned He usually only gives me enough light to take the next steps of faith. He knows if I had too many details, I’d run ahead of Him or be paralyzed by fear.
There’ve been times when God has given me a glimpse of what the result will be; but He’s never revealed the journey to that result. I must take each step by faith, trusting that when I get to where the light ends, God will provide another to show me the remaining way.
Such was the case with our ministry’s recent Revival of Hope. The event idea came to me moments before I took the stage at our annual fundraiser in September 2023. Our worship leader was praising God when a vision of a white tent and the word revival dropped into my spirit.
It was confirmed seconds later when a teenage volunteer approached and said, “Kristi, next year, we need some bales of hay at the stage so people can come forward and pray. We need a revival.”
That God-given vision and word of confirmation was the lamp I needed to start the journey. I had no idea what a tent revival should look like, so I sought His will, and the Holy Spirit spoke a soft light for my feet with two words—simple and space. Surprisingly, these short words were perfect guidelines and guardrails for every decision we made over the next year.
Through prayer, I discerned that I was to create a simple space for God’s people to gather and for Him to move, hence the tent. And we were to gather for one purpose—to glorify Him.
None of the programs were to be elaborate, nor were they to be a place for racial, gender, or denominational lines. (As if there ever is a place for those things!) I also discerned the event was not to be a fundraiser for our ministry, as in past years. It was to be a simple service of worship and testimonies (Revelation 12:11).
The Lord promised if I lifted His name, He’d take care of all the other details, like finances for the revival and for our prison outreaches (Matthew 6:33). I also discerned that we were to go into the local Pitt County Detention Center and revive the hope of over 400 incarcerated men and women there with the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ.
So many people asked who we were bringing in to speak. They were hoping for a big name, and I’ll be honest—it took everything in me not to run out and hire a high-profile Christian speaker or musician. “Keep it simple, Kristi,” I kept reminding myself. “Jesus is the name you’re lifting.”
I knew that just as the Lord wanted a simple space, He wanted to use simple people too. And over time, He highlighted His speaker lineup. It included people like Tony Moore (see page 19), a 16-year-old boy living in the foster care system who struggled in school and with anger management. It included others like Melisha Johnson, Kory Gordon, Mike Taylor, Michael Dixon, Sheridan Correa, Robert Whitner, and Christina Kimbrel—all who have served time in jails and prisons.
Their testimonies would undeniably reveal the life-transforming power of Jesus Christ and prove the simplicity of the Gospel—for God so loved the world (John 3:16–17).
God also wanted to use people like Pat Avery, Cliff Godwin, Randy Claypoole, Kenny Munds, Jeff and Mitzi Byrd, April Raines, Deborah Jones, Matt Mollison, Cashae Edmonds, Denise San Miguel, Miguel Nunez, and myself. None of us had rap sheets, but we all had a sin sheet that God’s grace had pardoned. We’d faced and overcome difficulties and insecurities with God’s help. There would be people under that tent who needed to know they could overcome too.
Fear and doubt fought hard against me. I worried about what people in the community would think about our panel. Few church folks attending the event would have been ministered to by such a lot. But God reminded me that He uses the simple things (1 Corinthians 1:28–30)—and, boy, did He!
I was also a little nervous about what God might do. What if He let loose and things got lively under that tent? And what if people started rumors about me and the ministry? God graciously gave me another word of illumination: “Get over your reputation, Kristi.”
My whole life, I’ve worried about what people think of me. But God revealed to me long ago that I couldn’t worry about man’s opinions and serve Him well at the same time (Proverbs 29:25; Galatians 1:10). I’ve met many naysayers as the ministry has grown, and I’ve grown in Christ because of them. I’ve had to get over myself and man’s opinions many times, because until I did, the Lord couldn’t take me to where He wanted me to go. This endeavor was no different.
I was weary as we neared the September 19–21 event dates. Did anyone know how much work the team and I were doing? God graciously provided another soft light through Zechariah 4:10 (NLT): “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in [your] hand.”
Wow! From the moment the work had begun, the Lord had been rejoicing. Suddenly, it didn’t matter who saw the work; God saw it and was pleased. And that was all the light I needed to run to the finish line!
As I look back at this Revival of Hope experience, I see that it was never about the event—it was about the journey. It’s always about the journey. It’s about trusting God, renewing our minds with His truth (Romans 12:2), listening for His voice, and adjusting our steps to His. As we do, God will light our paths and lead us to where He wants us to be.
Whether you’re incarcerated or in the free world, you can watch the Revival of Hope through the Victorious Living Facebook page or on issued prison tablets on PANDO.
KRISTI OVERTON JOHNSON encourages and equips people for victory through her writings, speaking engagements, and prison ministry. To learn more, go to kojministries.org.
