To my fellow July racers: I am honored to be counted amongst this group of people. Simply reading each of your stories over the past few months has been amazing. Each of you seem to have such strong faiths and are truly passionate about spreading the Gospel of Christ. I can’t wait to meet each of you and see how God is going to use us to minister to the world!
Let me begin by saying that I know my feelings of inadequacy are not based on truth, but rather a lie from the enemy. The truth is that I am filled with the Spirit and am more than a conqueror in Christ. But I cannot help but feel that I am not ‘enough’ for this journey God has called me to. I watched the World Race promo DVD last night and I couldn’t help but think, “God, I cannot do this! Why did you ask me? This requires more faith than I have.” God’s still small voice tells me now, “because you are willing.” The truth is that I don’t need to have the strongest faith in the world, a mustard seed can move mountains. And God never asked me to be enough of anything because He is more than enough. This journey simply requires that I lay down my life in sweet surrender and allow Him to move.
All I can say is that God does answer prayers. I have been praying for several months now a simple prayer and part of that prayer has become, “increase my faith.” Up to this point God has shown me that this experience, from trusting His timing and raising financial support, to the places we will travel, each aspect of this journey is going to test my faith. It reminds me of the movie ‘Evan Almighty;’ God (played by Morgan Freeman) tells Evan’s wife something to the affect of, ‘If someone ask God for patience do you think God gives him patience or opportunities to be patient?’ I think there is a lot of truth in this, and I think God is giving me a huge opportunity to increase my faith.
Although I am unworthy of God’s love and have fallen short, He still sees fit in is unfathomable mercy to count me as His! And while my flesh is weak, my spirit is willing. Life is a war and this journey, I’m sure, will have it’s battles, but Christ has defeated death and He has equipped me with the armor I need to fight. I find comfort in the words, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4). I have a long way to go but I know that God has called me to this crazy adventure and I can’t wait to see how He is going to grow me in my relationship with Him and change my perspective even more than He already has.
Thank you God for loving this sinner and allowing me to be a part of Your story!
