One thing that I feel I have grown in on the World Race is my heart acceptance of the fact that God created me as me. This might seem like a “Well, duh” statement, but is one of those things I believe easy for us to accept in our heads, but is a different story when it comes to our hearts.
“God created you unique”, “God has a purpose for your life”, and such phrases are all things I have heard many times before and in general are things with which I am in agreement. Through the Race the truth of these statements seeped more fully into the my heart. The truth that God created me as He did because He wants to use me as me. Yes, He is transforming me, but not into someone else, but more fully into who I truly am. He has gifted me with the gifts I have because His purpose for me involves those giftings. I do not need to conform to some image or model of what I think a perfect christian is supposed to look like, I simply need to pursue God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength and let Him use me as me.
While this realization came within the first few months of the race it is a truth I continue have to remind myself of. In Sophia, Bulgaria as I was walking and praying God reminded me of the truth again through a fun little illustration. I was specifically arguing with God that I not experienced, skilled, knowledgeable, nor strong enough for the work He has for me. As I was arguing this I came across a bench. This bench was very basic. It has two metal legs for the support and set right on top of them was a raw, unshaped, bark still on it, log. It seemed like maybe at one time maybe a more finished structure had sat there, but that for some reason it had been taken away and someone clever seeing the two remaining supports simply pulled a log from the woods and placed it on top of the supports.
God reminded me in that moment that He does not need a finished, polished product to making something useful. The log was not sanded or shaped, simply cut from the tree and placed where it need to be and as I sat on it, it provided the rest I needed from walking. Yes I may not be the most skilled, experienced, knowledgeable or strong, but God still is able to use me to fulfill His purposes.
