Christian YouTube sensation Chris Garcia had a dream he knew was placed by God inside of his heart to make content for the world to see. So, why did God ask him to give it all up?
“I knew that God had called me to do YouTube. I just didn’t really feel like I was hitting exactly what I felt the Lord was wanting me to do,” Garcia told Charisma News in an exclusive interview. “And I was doing everything that I could [to the] best of my ability. And about two years ago, the Lord kept convicting my heart to let go of the whole YouTube channel.”
This pivotal moment was what Garcia described as his Abraham-Isaac moment. Before God would elevate him and expand his blessing even further, Garcia had to have a moment of full surrender where he was willing to completely let go and submit himself to God’s will.
“I was bewildered and confused about it,” Garcia said. “But I know the voice of the Spirit. And so I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to do that.’ Well, the day that I decided, I told the Lord God, ‘I’m going to go, and I’m going to deactivate the channel.'”
It was in this moment of a complete and full surrender that the Lord spoke to Garcia and spared his dream.
“And He said, ‘Good. Now it’s Mine.’ It’s kind of like the Abraham-Isaac moment. He says, ‘Now that it’s Mine; here’s what I want you to do. I want you to live stream in front of the camera and worship My presence and spend time with Me and say absolutely nothing.'”
It was during this livestream that God was working to usher in His glory so that many others could see what it looked like to stop and sit in His presence. The stream wasn’t about Garcia. It was all about the Lord. God wanted this to be a time of devotion, a symbol that the channel was being turned over to Him. No longer was Garcia in charge of the YouTube channel. Now, God was the One leading the way.
After this experience, the Lord began to increase his channel and eventually imprinted a word on Garcia’s wife to share that would exponentially change the channel. Listening to the Holy Spirit, Garcia let her share the word of shaking during one of his live streams. What happened was a phenomenal outpouring that touched the lives of many.
“She gave the prophetic word about a great shaking coming and how this shaking was going to really sift our intentions and motives in the church and she saw the church as the body of Christ,” Garcia said. “The next thing you know it’s like at 17,000 views…within four days, it went viral and where it said 1.5 million views. The only thing that I can attribute that to is it’s a sovereign word of the Lord. It’s a sovereign thing I could not make that happen.”
As God continues to use Garcia’s channel, Fresh Oil, his story of faithfulness and humility showcases that even when the Lord calls us to lay down the things we cherish, He can be trusted in all circumstances.
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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.
Stephen Strang