Hallelu Yah in Hebrew means Praise The Lord
I’ve seen the power of what He can do when you start everyday in His Presence, when you ask Him everyday to open your eyes to what He has for you, when you (try) to do every little and simple thing with love at the root of it, when you look for Him in everything you see and everything you do, when you begin to see Jesus in the people you meet, when you start to recognize the gifts that He gives you everyday, when you live everyday as an act of worship.
And it’s good.
Like life changing, mountain moving, heart refining, mind opening, sea splitting, dead raising, head numbingly GOOD.
I’ve seen that and I’ve experienced it these last nine months. But that doesn’t only happen when you live out of a backpack for 9 months and travel the world. It happens when you look for Him no matter what the circumstance. It happens when you stand up in the midst of the storm with your arms high and voice raised with praise. It happens when you do the good work The Lord has for you to do even when you don’t want to and it seems fruitless. And thank goodness that doesn’t just happen on the World Race because- well- this journey is about over.
But now is not the time to mope and become sad because this amazing experience is over for me. Now is not the time to go back to the life I was living before- a lack luster life without Jesus at it’s core. Now is the time to sit at Jesus’ feet and give praise for His ever faithful self and the miracles He’s done through and to me these last 9 months. It’s time to shout at the top of my lungs of what I’ve had the privilege to experience and see. This is a time of thankfulness and celebration.
So celebrate with me the ending of this season. The completion of one of the hardest, most rewarding seasons of my life. His hand was on this squad and in the Philippines and in Swaziland and in Nicaragua and in each one of our hearts. He moved mountains and split seas in each one of us and in people we met. We cried together and laughed together and worshipped Him together. We saw things and heard stories that broke our hearts and knew He would be faithful through it all. Our minds were challenged and our hearts were changed and through all that painful growth, we knew it was from Him. We saw the fatherless loved by their Father and the hopeless be redeemed. We saw walls come down and actual walls built up. And it was good.
Even if I didn’t always think it was good. Not every moment on this race was amazing. Not every moment rocked my world. Not everything was an adventure. Sometimes I was frustrated. Sometimes I was tired. And sometimes I was just plain done. But every moment, every day, every month, every ministry, every opportunity, and every country was orchestrated by the King of Kings so it was good.
So I praise God for all of it. For all the smelly clothes and for the laundromats. For the restless nights and the rock hard sleeps. For the hot, sweaty days and the this-weather-is-perfect kinda days. For the heart breaking stories and the God glorifying testimonies. For the dirty feet and the satisfying water pressure. For the I’m-more-than-done moments and the we-can-push through triumphs. For everything. I lift up my hands and my voice and I shout, ‘Hallelu Yah! Praise The Lord!’
Because The Lord has brought us through this all together and with a purpose. And that is a reason to celebrate.
“Praise The Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surprising greatness. Praise him with the sounding of a trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and the flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise The Lord. Praise The Lord.” Psalm 150
