During my time in Zambia, God taught me so many things. One of the main things being that he has a big, extravagant, detailed, immeasurable plan for my life, as well as the life of every single other person in the world. He really is just that big and powerful. Every single day in Zambia, God would give me a revelation about that single fact, and each time it would shock me more than the time before. What’s hilarious is that I would simply forget the next day and start to worry about or doubt something in the future (near of distant), but then God would swoop in again and reassure me the he’s got it! It’s all part of his plan and there’s nothing I can do about it, so stop worrying! But dang, He’s patient.
There were many other lessons he would teach me from day to day, but there’s one that I didn’t see until I got home. It was looking me dead in the face the whole time, but it took a coffee date with a severely pregnant friend and a skype date with a teammate for me to see it.
There was this one night at the beginning of Zambia when we went to a worship night at a nearby private high school. It was incredible. There were a bunch of different groups of kids who performed worship songs, messages, testimonies, etc. There was one song, however that was just so catchy, it stuck in all of our heads for the rest of our time in Zambia, and quickly became a running joke. It was very repetitive, but beautifully sang. The words were:
“I’m a passerby, I’m a passerby, I’m a passerby, I’m a passerby
This world is not my home, this world is not my home, this world is not my home, this world is not my home
Heaven is my home, heaven is my home, heaven is my home, heaven is my home
I’m a passerby, I’m a passerby, I’m a passerby, I’m a passerby”
The song would repeat a few more times, and there were different parts for the men too, but that’s pretty much the gist of it. I’m telling you, though, our house would break out in song every time anyone would mention this song or sing a part of it… it was just so contagious and catchy. But like I said, the obvious lesson in this song did not hit me until I was sitting in a coffee shop two days after I got home from the race. I was explaining to my friend how incredibly hard being home was already, and that I almost felt “home-sick” for the race and the people on my squad. She then proceeded to tell me that it’s just proof that this world is truly not our home! It doesn’t matter if I’m in the place I’ve lived my whole life, or across the globe in Guatemala, Thailand or Zambia. The fact of the matter is that Earth is not my home; heaven is.
God had been trying to teach me that most of Zambia, but I just wasn’t listening. As the end of the race approached, we all began thinking about home and making plans for the next steps in our lives. But what I didn’t see was the whole picture of God’s lesson. I was only looking at a close up, when I should have zoomed out and discovered the whole painting! Not only does God have a purpose for our lives, but His plan for us is solely to bring Kingdom on Earth, so that we can go back to our true home knowing we did all we could to show people who their real father is and where their true home is.
Having that perspective has given me a lot more peace about being back in Colorado, away from my family of Racers, submersed in American culture, and finding God’s path for my life here on Earth. I know that the trivial things that seem to matter, aren’t that important in the big picture and there’s absolutely nothing that can stand in God’s way. He is perfect, He is powerful, He is our protector, and He is a good good Father.
