We are on the road from Dondo to Maputo. Month 1 is officially over. We are going to stay at a contacts home in Maputo where we will stay for 2 days and wait for the rest of our team to meet up with us. From there we will travel together to Nelspruit, South Africa where we will stay for 6 days in a Hostel. This time will be used to debrief us on the month, have worship and teaching sessions, go on an African Safari, and have lots of internet access! I am super stoked to be heading to our next ministry location and I have heard great things about it, including that it has hot showers, great hiking, and a zip-line close by; but I can’t help but be a little bummed that Month 1 is already over.
A few days before we left Dondo one of our Squad Leaders Kristen asked us a series of questions and told us to take them to God for answers. For those of you who don’t know who or what the squad leaders are we have 3; Kristen, Stephen, and Renee. They are previous World Racers who travel with us and guide us through our ministry and everything else. Anyways, Kristen asked us a few questions that I had thought about but hadn’t really processed through fully with God or anyone else. They had been on the back of my mind but not at the fore front. Asking them brought up some stuff for me and allowed me to think more clearly about a few things I had been struggling with.
It’s interesting to see how problems arise and fester and then work themselves out. How if we sit in or on something it will fester and grow into something bigger until it is too much to take. The simple answer is yes, just to give it all to God but sometimes this just seems too easy and ambiguous. Sometimes it’s hard to know what “giving it to God” looks like, or what it even IS that we are supposed to give. See the truth is that even though I am in Africa, following a dream God placed in my heart, working for the kingdom and becoming a disciple for our Lord Jesus Christ I still feel like nothing sometimes, I still struggle with my identity and where I am going and where I have been. I still struggle with believing God’s truth about me and my life and discerning what is from Him and what is not. Though God is good and faithful and brought me here it isn’t all sunshine and flowers. There is serious warfare going on all around us, inside and out. Learning how to walk and be faithful when there are distractions and lies all around has not been easy. It was not easy at home, nor is it any easier here.
So as I have questioned and analyzed what God had for me last month and what I was processing internally a whole flood of things have come crashing down on me. God has revealed truth and lies I have believed through conversations with teammates and squad-mates I was not expecting. Conversations that were not easy to have been had, and after having them I am free again. It’s crazy to see what God can do when you can actually take a step back from yourself and be truthful and vulnerable. What God can do is those moments can change the course of your day, your week, or your life. Now as I have come to teammates and God with these things he is correcting me and telling me what is truth, and what are lies, and I am able to walk in a newfound freedom that I never knew was possible.
You see lies are toxic. Once you believe them they ignite and take over large sections of your brain and heart. They stop you from loving yourself and others fully and they hinder your relationship with those around you and the Father. We need to be in a constant state of identifying lies from truth. Once we find God’s truth about any situation we can release the lies and get freedom from situations that previously held us down. If you ask God his truth about any situation He will tell you. Though it may not be what you want to believe and may require some change on your end it will bring you ultimate and complete joy because it is God’s plan, and He does not hold back anything good from us.
Something we strive for on the Race is vulnerability and freedom from such things as this, because a single lie about a teammate or co-worker or spouse or friend or yourself can ruin a relationship, a team, or a squad. And that is what the enemy wants. John 10: 10 says, “the thief’s purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in its fullness.” Are there things you are struggling with? Lies he is trying to convince you of that you believe? I challenge you to ask God His truth on these things. For it also says in John 10:14, “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep too, and they are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also, and they will LISTEN TO MY VOICE, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.” Ask God’s truth to come and surround you. Write it down, talk it out, speak the truth out and it will overpower the lies.
He always wins. 🙂
