I know if you think about it it should be obvious, but often times I overlook the fact that the World Race won’t be all fun times and sunshine. There are going to be really hard days. I’ve already heard stories about all the things that have gone wrong on other trips and could go wrong on ours. Things such as food poisoning, being overcharged for transportation, serious illness, troubles at home while you’re away, etc. . .
The bottom line is that this won’t be an easy trip. It’s not a vacation, it’s not for fun, it’s not the Amazing Race, it’s none of those things. It’s a mission trip, and mission trips are hard. God doesn’t call us to our comfort zone, He calls us away from it. He calls us to dangerous places and He calls us to be uncomfortable. We’re told this plenty of times in the Bible, and we’re even told to embrace it and not to fear the hard times. James 1:2-3 talks about embracing trials and says “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”
Someone, while talking to me about the World Race, quoted Matthew 11:12 saying “the kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and violent men take hold of it.” He talked about how daring to love the unlovable and go into the world with Gospel was a violent act, and how that is what we’re called to. Of course with that comes danger, but not too long ago God showed me Psalm 91.
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
When I read this it reminds me not to be afraid of whatever danger may come, because if God is with me then nothing can stand against me.
