One of the largest and longest lessons anyone on the World Race learns is trust. For me the lesson really began almost 17 months ago when I signed up for the World Race in September 2015. And I am still realizing what trust is, how to trust, and that I still resist in trusting the Lord.
Again I find myself worried about the future. You never realize how much you desire control until it is completely stripped from you and every situation and decision comes down to walking into the unknown future. I also find myself worried about the past and present. Worried that maybe I messed up and now am not on the path the Lord laid out for me.
God takes us in steps. God leads us step by step where we need to go, even if sometimes or most of the time it feels like dragging our feet. For me looking back it seems that it is all little steps have worked together into bigger leaps. But it is only when I really look at it that I realize it really was just a lot of little steps and that I had to trust God in each step. I wondered why He did that. Why He made me go little by little instead of just taking me and allowing me to trust Him for a bigger leap.
Besides the fact that I probably never would have taken the leap without all the little steps, I think it is because He wants to teach us to trust Him with everything. Even the things that seem minute or we forget we should trust Him for. He wants us to trust Him to provide food for us everyday. He wants us to trust Him that he will take us to work and back home every day. And He wants us to trust Him to take us where we need to go for the future. It is only with all the little steps that we learn to trust Him with the bigger steps and only through all the little steps that our lives are transformed into lives of trust.
I also find that trust isn’t just something I have to do for the future. It is something I have to do continually everyday with other people. Over the course of our month here in Battambang I have been privileged to be able to share the gospel with my small English class of 6 students. On multiple occasions they have asked me to teach them about Christmas. They ask me why people celebrate Christmas and what really happened on Christmas. So I tell them the story from the beginning. I tell them about the garden of Eden, about how man sinned and needed a way to be with God again, and about how God wanted them to be with Him again too; so Jesus came.
I have to trust that the Holy Spirit will step in during those moments and speak the words they need to hear and will understand. I have to trust that the language barrier won’t be too difficult and that my students really do understand what I am telling them. I have to trust and hope that they will be convicted by the Holy Spirit and long to know Jesus better. I have to trust that the Lord is glorified through these things.
God takes us in steps. That is what I have learned in Cambodia this month. That is what our host told us one night after dinner while we were sharing stories. God takes us in steps so that we can be lead to where we need to go. I need to begin to recognize all the little steps that the Lord wants me to trust Him with. I need to be more willing to trust God with all the little things so that I may learn to trust Him with the bigger things. I need to trust God with the little things so that they can turn into bigger things and I can look back and be thankful for each step the Lord took me through to get me to where I needed to be.
Our team will be leaving Battambang soon and traveling to Laos. Please pray for the people we interacted with over this last month in Cambodia, as well as the people we met and interacted with in The Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nepal, and India. I am so thankful for all your prayers and I hope you have a Merry Christmas! Thank you again for all your love and support! God Bless!
Glory to God!
