Yesterday was my team’s last day of teaching here in Pahang, Malaysia. The end of this month crept up on us (is it really almost November?), and it’s hard to believe we’re already about to embark on our third month of the race! Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, here we come (but not before we sneak away to Singapore for a couple of days)!
I knew from the beginning of our time here in Malaysia that October was going to be a month of rest for me and my team. Previous racers advised us to appreciate this restful month, because we would only be teaching English for our ministry two days out of the week. At first I struggled hard with this idea of rest. I didn’t understand how to spend time “resting with the Lord,” so the majority of my free time that first week was spent napping and lounging around on my sleeping pad, engulfed in The Hobbit. As comforting, and maybe even lovely, as that all seems, it wasn’t a spiritually productive way to live. So I got my head out of Middle-earth, put on real pants, and deflated my bed confronted myself. I was bound and determined that this month wasn’t going to be a waste.
I wanted to seek the Lord in ways I never had. I wanted my heart to shift towards a greater desire and longing for him, and only him. I began praying relentlessly and boldly, asking the Lord for the things I desired from him. I started to process more frequently in my journal, writing about everything from my day-to-day happenings and challenges to my relationship with Christ and his affects on me. I was open and honest with myself, and my team, about my past and my weaknesses and struggles. Most recently, I began digging deeper into his word to bring our relationship to a whole new level – something that was much too foreign to me up until this past week.
I have to say, being in this place is just awesome. As I sit here, in the middle of Malaysia (with no A/C) atop the glorified pool floaty known as my bed my sleeping pad*, I can think of no place I’d rather be than in such a state of intimacy with God. I am truly in awe of the ways in which I’ve experienced Jesus these past few weeks. He has loved me (truly loved me). He has wooed me. He has revealed brokenness within me. He has built trust in me. And he has set me free, again.
He has taken me to a place where we can spend time together, and it. is. beautiful. He has presented himself to me in new and countless ways. I have experienced the love of my Father, my Groom, my Healer, my Creator, my Savior in ways I couldn’t have imagined! It may have taken a five day fling with Bilbo Baggins to ignite the process, but I have learned what it means for me to rest in the Lord. And I can’t believe I’ve waited this long to explore the depths of intimacy that the God of all creation wishes to take me! Whoa. This kind of love, folks. It is truly euphoric. And I want to challenge each of you to dig deeper into your own relationships with Christ. I can promise you that you won’t be disappointed.
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
“And in that day,” declares the Lord,
“you will call me ‘My Husband,’
and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’
For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
and they shall be remembered by name no more…
And I will betroth you to me forever.
I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice,
in steadfast love and mercy.
I will betroth you to me in faithfulness.
And you shall know the Lord.”
Hosea 2:14-20
*I actually love this thing – it saved me from having to sleep on a concrete floor all month.
