Morpheus – “Get some rest, You’re going to need it.”
Neo – “For what?”
Morpheus (confidently smiling) – “Your training.”
— The Matrix
We all packed in two school buses for the ride to training camp in Gainesville, Georgia and spent the entire week running around in the woods, forming our teams, and worshiping God in the heat and humidity. I wasn’t sure what to expect during training, but the week has been an exhausting yet amazing time of counseling and struggling through personal issues, opening up to one another, and spiritual equipping our squad for the road ahead. If I can summarize two things I’ve learned very personally here at camp:
1.) I’m afraid of failure so I choose not to give 100% of who God has created me to be. So often in life I have let let fear and pain define who I am. And although Jesus has healed me of so much, the time has now come for me to choose to risk and serve despite that fear of failure! These next 13 months will be an incredible opportunity for me to give everything I have!
2.) The next 13 months are going to require much of me, and I will need to daily choose to trust and rely upon God for my strength and rest. Without Christ, I am nothing. But with Him, I have all that I need!
As I prepare to leave tonight and sleep in the Atlanta airport tonight for my flight back to Montana tomorrow morning, I’m tempted to think I can relax in my own strength. But I quickly realize even the time from now until September 27th will require me to continually trust in God. I’m not sure where I’ll be living in two weeks, and I still have over $10,000 in support to raise. Yet we have an amazing God. This morning one passage from Matthew stuck out to me. Jesus travelled to his hometown and began teaching in the synagogues, and “he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.” (Matthew 13:53-58). I believe the time for me to rely only upon what I know and what I think I can control in life has come to an end.
