For those of you that know me well, you know that anything fitness fills my love bucket. The more intense the exercise, the faster my love bucket is filled. The morning of April 5th in Talanga, Honduras, some fellow squad mates and I headed out for an early morning run. The scenery here is immaculate. The further along the run you get, the more beautiful the scenery gets. We are talking lush green mountains, dense forests mixed with greenery that reflects both jungle and northern climates, and misty clouds wrapping themselves around all of this, allowing streaks of sunshine through at just the right moments. The majority of the run is uphill and we have been aiming to add a little more distance every time we head out. We were about 2.5 km in when we decided keep going a little further before turning back. The road continued to wind up the hill and we decided two more times that we should just go a little bit further before turning back. On the final push and curve in the road we came across a man carrying a bundle of brooms. He was headed in the direction that we needed to turn to go back.
The most natural thing for us to do in that moment would have been to choose to turn around and continue our run. That is what my flesh wanted to do — as I had stated before I can sometimes become all about that fitness burn. We had to actively choose to listen to that small voice that was whispering for us to walk with that man and to carry his bundle of brooms. It would have been more comfortable to my flesh to continue my run, but thank God we chose to walk into the uncomfortable that morning. I got to witness two people humble themselves and their desires and act out Luke 10:27. They were showing love to God with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind. They were loving their neighbor as they would themselves as they helped him with his burden. There was a major language barrier going on, as in we speak no Spanish and he speaks no English – so charades began in motioning that Brent was going to carry the bundle of brooms for the man and we were going to turn and walk alongside him.
The entire walk consisted of picking up on certain words and actions and trying to piece those together for comprehension. He flexed his bicep for us a few times, pointed to his legs and knees, and pointed to the heavens. In broken communication he was clearly communicating that God was his strength. As much as God was calling us to bless this man, God used him to minister on such a deeper level to our hearts. He exchanged his name with us, which is Jose Angel (coincidence – I think not) and told us that he was 83 years old. We have no idea how long this man had been walking for, but there were no houses around where we had met him and I strongly believe that he had been walking for quite a distance and was going to continue the walk carrying that 30 pound bundle of brooms over his frail body until he completed the task that was needed of him.
The following is something powerful that I am just recognizing as I am writing the words out now (external processing much?). This man was a living vision of Jesus Christ to us. He was carrying the burden represented by the brooms on a journey that needed to be fulfilled in order to pay the debts for his family. He was enduring and carrying his cross just like Jesus did for us. His life is a living sacrifice for his family and he was able to press on through the struggle and pain of that walk with his reliance being on God, just like Jesus did. The coolest part of this story was that we got to bear witness to this on Resurrection Sunday and that this man was choosing to walk this hardship with such profound joy.
We continued to walk with him for about 3 km, when a bus (yes, a yellow school bus on a remote mountainside dirt road) pulled up and he got on with his brooms to be taken to his final destination. We were awe struck at the simplicity and complexity of all that had just happened.
God was speaking directly into a lesson that he has been walking me through. He is teaching me to live as it calls us to live in Matthew 6:33 and to first be concerned about His kingdom and what has His approval, then all things will be provided for us. I will always have the option to choose either his will or my own. If I had chosen to continue that run without stopping I would have still had a great message delivered to me from my podcast that I was listening to. I would have served my body well in conditioning it, and I would have felt great at the end and rejoiced in feelings of accomplishment mixed with athletic endorphins. I believe that God would have still blessed me, but he had a greater plan for me that morning and he gave me the free will and choice to walk into His plan or continue in my own will. He wanted me to experience an encounter with Him rather than just hearing about one.
I had been questioning and checking my motives for fitness a lot lately and God clearly spoke to me that morning on His will versus my own. He will bless me in things that bring me joy as long as I choose to put Him above those things. It is so easy to put good things that seem innocent and pure and are filled with good intentions above Him. We are humans and have been made a certain way for a certain purpose – He wants us to enjoy this life and the things he has implanted within us, but he wants us to choose Him as our true source of significance, joy, and fulfillment first.
The conversation that was sparked between the three of us because of this divine appointment was beautiful. It was thought provoking and spirit stirring. It was a discussion of how God had awakened each one of us to different realizations and revelations through such a simple experience. It was one that proved how simple His love is and how complicated we make it with our human minds. It was a reminder of how the enemy tries to steal the beauty of simplicity in our Christian walks and deter us from the path of infinite blessing by making the easier road seem appealing. Jesus showed me how pleased he was with the simplest act and I felt like I got to experience some of the joy and love he has towards us as I watched my two running partners act in love towards their neighbor. In scripture (Matthew 25:40), God guarantees this truth: Whatever you do for one of my brothers or sisters, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did for me! Truly the simplest things can bring the most joy, bear the most Christ like fruit (as we saw in Jose and one another) and be the biggest blessings of encouragement.
Be sure to check out Brent’s post about it as well! http://brentmcdermott.theworldrace.org/
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