Faith.
Today I was asked, “Ashley- if you don’t have all your money by Saturday (for the deadline), will you realize that this is not God’s will?”That question made me think. I had no idea what to say. I’ve thought about it numerous times today. I had no idea what to say. That question shook me. It made me think about my faith. I say that I have faith that God is going to have me go on the race. I say I have faith that God is going to provide the money. I have faith that He will provide everything that I need. It just got real, pinpointing it like that.
Faith.
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complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
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strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.no proof. unseen.
God has been showing me so much.
God is doing so much in my life.
God reveals more and more of Himself to me daily.
He has given me so much.
He is requiring of me.
“From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more” Luke 12:48
God is requiring faith from me. He requires faith from every single World Racer. He requires faith from every single Christian. Every day.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” Hebrews 11:1
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase” Martin Luther King, Jr.
Faith is believing in the unseen. Faith is the essence of Christianity.
It hit me the other day that faith is a way of life. It is not a one-time thing. It is not something that you do in part, but in whole.
It is not something that you just take out of your pocket and use for this one instance or that one. I was thinking about some of my praying recently. When I pray, sometimes, I’m praying, ‘Lord- I have the faith that you will do this (insert-specific-normally-one-time-thing-here). You said that if we have faith of a mustard seed, then it will happen. But it’s not happening. So, come on God.” But, that is not faith. That is Ashley trying to manipulate Almighty God into doing something that I want to happen.
I have faith.
I have faith in my Creator.
I have faith that my Redeemer is coming again.
I have faith that Abba wants me to go on this mission trip.
I have faith that the King of Kings will supply the money for my trip.
But, I have been trying to get God to do what I want in the name of faith. It’s an easy thing to get entangled into doing. I need to confess that that is something I’ve done.
I don’t want to do that anymore. I don’t want to try to ‘use’ God. I want to have so much faith in what God is doing in my life that it feeds fellow racer’s faith. I want to be a person that would have been written about in the faith chapter (in the Bible, Hebrews 11). I want to be an encouragement. I want God to use me to strengthen others’ faith. I want to be a faith warrior. I would love for you to pray with me about being strong in faith.
I need to get $2,350 in my World Race account by the end of this week in order to leave on September 7th. I am as sure as a person can be that the World Race is what God wants me to do. That the race is what His will is for me. I hope (certain assurance) that September is when God wants me to leave. I have hope that L squad is the amazing group of God’s people that I am going to be doing life with for the next 11 months.
If you would like to partner with me financially on my journey, I would absolutely appreciate it! Just click on the ‘support me’ link to make an online donation.
Guys, $2,350?? That is NOTHING to God! He can and will do it, I have hope (certain assurance). He can and He will! Please take the time to consider if He wants to use you to help accomplish bringing in the money. I promise, if you feel that He wants you to help, you will NEVER regret donating. I can’t tell you that you won’t feel some kind of way (thank you Sadie, for the wording :)) if you feel Him wanting you to do something- and you don’t.
If 235 people donate $10, I’ll have it.
If 47 people donate $50, I’ll have it.
If 24 people donate $100, I’ll have it.
I love you all and I am so not trying to make anyone feel like they need to donate. I just wanted to say that. I just want you all to have the opportunity to let God use you.
I love you all! So much. Seriously.
<3 Ash
