Things are getting real, y’all. I have a group message with my World Race squad. They have been posting things like, “36 days until training camp!” and “4 months from today we leave the country!”
Whoh. This is exciting! But honestly, it scares the poop outta me a little bit. Haha! People always, always ask me when I tell them about the World Race if I am scared or anxious and my answer has been, “No” or “Not yet!” I wouldn’t say that I am scared, but I would just say it like this…reality is setting in, fam.
Hearing these count downs makes my tummy turn, just because I cannot believe how quickly time is going by. I am beyond excited and in complete awe that I get the amazing opportunity to be a part of a mission like this. But reality is setting in.
I just finished Joshua and the Father has so encouraged my heart. I want to share it with you and I hope and pray that it encourages your heart as well.
Joshua 23:3 “for it is the Lord who has fought for you.”
Joshua 23:6 “Therefore be very strong to keep and do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses.”
Joshua 23:8-9 “But you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done this day. For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations.”
Joshua 23:10-11 “…since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as He promised you. Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God.”
Joshua 23:14 “…not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.”
These Israelites are about to come into contact with other peoples, other nations. I feel like the Father is telling them- “I have led you and guided you. I have promised land and good life to you and have come through. I have been faithful to all I promised to you. Let this mercy and grace that I have poured out upon you produce mission in your heart. Love me with all your heart; cling to me. Do not “make mention of other gods or swear by them or bow down to them” for I am a jealous God. I FIGHT for you because I LOVE YOU. I LEAD you because I LOVE YOU. Everything that is not of me is fleeting, hopeless, and empty. TRUST me. I FIGHT for YOU and I am FAITHFUL to you and to my promises to YOU.”
Spoiler alert: at the end of Joshua, Joshua dies. What a sad ending. But before he dies, he is telling these people that he has led for the past several years- DON’T MISS GOD. LOOK AT WHAT HE HAS DONE. DO NOT OVERLOOK THESE THINGS TO LET YOUR HEART SERVE WORTHLESS THINGS. “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness…serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14).
This is their response- “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. THEREFORE WE ALSO WILL SERVE THE LORD, FOR HE IS OUR GOD” (Joshua 24:16-18).
LOOK AT WHAT HE HAS DONE. JUST STOP. THINK ABOUT IT. LOOK AT WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR YOU. THINK ABOUT THE CROSS. THINK ABOUT THE LIFE YOU HAVE BECAUSE OF HIM, THE VERY HOPE THAT HE ALONE IS.
He is faithful every time at carrying out Romans 8:28, every time- He is working all things together for our ultimate good and His ultimate glory- the ones that love Him and are called according to His purpose.
My response when I consider these things- how could I not serve the Lord? If we are not careful, it’s so easy to let our hearts wander towards other “gods”- the “god” of anxiety, the “god” of worry, the “god” of doubt, and so many other “gods” that we tend to wander towards- but how could we? How could we let these things come before OUR GOD- our good, good Father who has led us, who is faithful to His promises, who desires the very best for us because He loves us so dearly. How could we not let the mercy and grace that He has poured out upon our lives, blessing us way more than we could ever deserve, not produce a mission in our hearts to serve Him with all that we are?
So my point is- don’t be silly. I think that is one of the many things the Father has been teaching me and preaching to my heart- “don’t be silly, meg, just look up.”
Where ever you are today, whatever circumstances are happening in your life-good or bad, hard or easy, look up. Take a step back and see all that God has done for you and don’t be silly to let your heart serve other worthless things-
“You unravel me, with a melody
You surround me with a song
Of deliverance, from my enemies
Till all my fears are gone
I’m no longer a slave to fear
I am a child of God
I’m no longer a slave to fear
I am a child of God
I am surrounded
By the arms of the father
I am surrounded
By songs of deliverance
We’ve been liberated
From our bondage
We’re the sons and the daughters
Let us sing our freedom
You split the sea
So I could walk right through it
All my fears were drowned in perfect love
You rescued me
So I could stand and sing
I am child of God…”
{bethel music}
Setting my mind on the things of the Spirit,
Meg
{Romans 8:6}
