With my launch date approaching so quickly (2 months!), many people have been asking me how I know God is calling me to leave my home, my friends, my comfort, and my “life” for 11 months while I will be on The World Race. Well, I would love to tell ya how! It was really quite simple…He told me to.
What?
If this is the reaction you had and you now think I’m crazy then that’s ok! I would have thought someone was crazy for saying that a year or two ago, too. But it’s true. I have never before had God tell me something so clearly. He didn’t send me a text (boy, wouldn’t that make things easier?). He didn’t send me a Facebook message or an e-mail. So how did it happen? What steps did I take to have Him tell ME something? I’m going to explain those steps now, so you might possibly hear what God is trying to tell you, too!
I Asked and I Expected
One of the biggest steps I took was praying to God about whether to go or not. If you want someone to answer your question you have to ask it first. The same is true with God. This helps us build a relationship with Him, and that is what He desires.
“And this is the confidence we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us is whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.” -1 John 5:14 and 15
God has promised to hear out prayers and to answer them. This doesn’t mean He answers right away, but we have the advantage of being still and know that He is God.
I Listened
One of the hardest part of hearing God is knowing what to listen for. What I have found, is that I hear God more clearly when I am familiar with His voice. How do you become familiar with His voice? YOU READ THE BIBLE! And then you read it some more. I forget, so often, that the Bible IS His words!
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12
The Word is powerful. It is “living and active,” meaning that God makes His Word specific to us and uses it to communicate. Since deciding to read my Bible everyday, I have found that God uses what I read daily to help me with my struggles, to convict me, and to answer the questions I have asked. I cannot tell you how many times God has done this. With The World Race, I had been receiving some negative feedback from others and had people telling me I was making a mistake. The next morning God had me read Matthew 10, right after Jesus sends out the Twelve Apostles with nothing but the clothes on their back, and the passage was titled, “Persecution Will Come.” This was NOT a coincidence. God intentionally had me read this because He wanted me to not listen to what this world was telling me, but to listen to Him instead.
I Obeyed
Since God first told me not to listen to what this world was telling me, I have heard this message from others and read it in my Bible numerous times. He made it clear that I would be being disobedient to not go. So here I am, going. Has this been easy? NO. Am I always excited? NO (I like sleeping in my comfortable bed and going to a comfortable school and being around comfortable friends). But I will do as He has asked and I will trust Him to prepare me.
Is God answering your question? Are you listening?
Please continue to pray for financial support to come! Additionally, please pray for me harts of my teammates and I as we continue to trust God and prepare to leave. Pray for parents as they begin trusting God with their children.
