In February, I wrote a blog entitled Pinky Swear. It outlines the promises I received from The Lord about the things He had for me on this World Race.
To recap, The Lord gave me a number of specific things that He wanted to deepen my understanding of during this wild World Race. In the midst of the travel, new foods, strange smells, new friends, and old faithful worries He said there were four things I would be shown:
To show me how to love
To show me how to live
To teach me His Word
To give me a stage
Then life happened and God started to show up and well…
Wow. Was I short sighted.
When showing one of His children how to love like Him, Christ has to first teach them about their heart. Our hearts have great capacity for love because we are made in the image of God. But because of our humanity, our hearts have also succumbed to a capacity to harbor hate.
It was so sneaky. I mean I hardly spend a moment without a goofy grin plastered across my face most days! But after all the love I've been shown and been compelled to show others, there was one person I withheld love, compassion or even consideration from. The one person I can say I hated was Brian. Brian is the man who my ex wife cheated on me with. I held him in contempt and wished destruction upon him because it was easy. I've never met the guy, but all I knew about him is terrible. I have long since forgiven my ex because had a relationship with her, but I objectified him as a target for everything evil and poisoned and malicious.
It wasn't until I entered into a study on Proverbs in Cambodia and realized my need to forgive him, if only because The Lord has commanded me to because I was created for love, not hate. The only thing poisoned was my heart toward him. I can't love others the way I was intended if I held hate for even one man.
So I did. That night, I committed to pray daily for Brian. Not only to forgive him, but for his salvation, his blessing, and a revolution of love in his life so tangible that he finds everlasting peace, joy and sonship in a relationship with Christ.
I've gone from wanting the guy strung up to praying for his eternal freedom. Daily. Its been two months since I started, and my heart beats differently for Brian. I have no idea how its turning out so far, but I am assured that God is faithful to hear my redemptive cries for a person I once considered an enemy.
I am free of a chained heart that is now at liberty to love unabashedly; even those who may curse me. I can boldly say that I love Brian.
That is inhuman. That is true Love.
I was incredibly hesitant about the Race because of the living conditions that I WILLINGLY was submitting myself to. Sleeping on tile floors and squatty potty are such novel concepts now. This time last year they meant the apocalypse to me.
Seriously. I'm the guy who spends extra effort researching actually thread counts versus what is advertised on packaging in the stores. Incidentally, anything less than 400 is tantamount to sandpaper to me.
Now? I am currently sleeping on a borrowed sleeping pad with a piece of cloth (originally bought as a man-dress) from India as my only cover.
Is my perspective changed? More like revolutionized. The Lord has shown me how to live a life more content.
Most astonishing to me was how The Lord has used this time of living differently to break money's hold on my life. The act of having to ask other people for money has always been something that has turned my stomach into a volcano. It was the most uncomfortable thing in the world. When it comes down to it, pride had a hold of me and I didn't even want to try and make it let go.
To start and finish this Race, I had to rely on the generosity of both people I know and love, as well as total strangers. I never even considered how The Lord would use YOU who are reading this to show me to live freely and trust His promise for me through the challenge of fund raising. Now fully funded, I gaze in awe of the way God chose to fulfill that promise, while simultaneously redeeming a weakness in my own Spirit.
When God said He was going to teach me His word, I felt like it meant a lot of Bible studies on the race and quiet times…
It is so much deeper than that!
I never thought He would give me a passion to pursue Him like I would the great love of my life. His Word grabs my heart and won't let me go. His jealousy for me won't be ignored and it won't relent even in the face of my doubt. In the words of A. W. Tozer,
"I want to taste, touch with my heart and see with my inner eyes the wonder that is God."
Even the most glorious scene in creation pales in comparison to the beauty of intimacy with Christ. How can the most gorgeous portrait hope to be as captivating as the personality of it's divine Artist?
As for the stage He promises to prepare me for after this Race… let's just say that it has to do with a breathtaking vision, a new promise given to me from a good friend on my squad, a prophecy of me leading large crowds of people and a very interesting new destination in 2014.
But those details will have to wait for Part 3…
I have been given a precious gift, the experience of promises both granted and deferred. The Lord has fulfilled those promises He has made, but He refuses to stop there.
Now that He has shown Himself to be faithful, He now requires my faith. Faith to believe when it may seem like I am the only one willing to do so. When the enemy's fiery darts are tagging me from every angle, He has called me to stand firm and continue to believe in the promises He has for me.
Faith to keep asking for things grander than even my imagination can grasp.
Faith to be still, wait and listen to what He brings to me, not simply rambling on about my own desires.
You see, the greatest promise The Lord has made me for this race and beyond is that I am forever His.
His friend.
His prize.
His mouthpiece this side of Heaven.
His heir.
His beloved.
His Promised One.
This promise isn't exclusive only to me, but to all who say "yes" to His offer to follow Him.
Do not let go of what He has promised you. You never know when you are on the precipice of His life-shaking fulfillment.
Is anyone else glad that God keeps His promises?
So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:22-25 MSG)
