If you’re reading this I’ve successfully accessed some wifi. Yay for you. Living without wifi isn’t all that bad. Knowing I can’t access it often or at all has gifted me with laser focus this month. What an awesome month to go without it, though. It’s all-squad month and I just love every minute of it. I also love that our ministries are mixes of teams, so I have from 8a-1p to just work, talk, and love on some squad-mates. That’s a pretty ample amount of time to be able to pour into each other, and we have the rest of the day after that. I’ve found that some of my favorite conversations have happened during this time, and I wanted to share a pretty cool one our whole road crew had.
We are not World Racers.
We are fifty-four people living intentional lives for the Lord. We don’t want to be considered special, or put on a pedestal. We are sinners just as everyone else. When someone calls me a World Racer I’m unfamiliar with the identification. I haven’t adopted it yet, nor will I. I refuse to adopt it because if you could witness my daily life you would realize that the only thing about it that is special is the fact that the Lord is leading it, but He can do just the same for you. Your ministry may look slightly different (as in not traveling to eleven countries,) but if the Lord is leading you than you are set a part just as I am. I don’t want to be admired for what I’m doing, but rather I want the Lord to be admired for what He is doing. I’m just an instrument. I’m blessed to be serving in this way, but the Lord’s plans for your life are just as great as mine. I don’t want to be envied. Instead of envying what we’re doing, we want people to answer the call the Lord has placed on their life.
I haven’t always had this mindset, but it did come about quite quickly. Before and after signing up for the world race I spent hours reading blogs, checking out instagram posts, and just anything about it I read. I was obsessed with the superficial things. I wanted those instagram moments. As if the Lord takes into account how many moments we can create on instagram. As if the Lord keeps a tally and rates our walk with Him based on how many posts we can create that involve His name. Very early on in this journey I realized that I was frustrated because I didn’t feel like I was having any special moments like the ones you see on instagram, but then I realized that my eyes don’t see life through instagram filters. From then on I wasn’t interested in focusing on capturing moments because I don’t want to focus on just one moment; I want to live through them all. I didn’t want to be behind a camera because I didn’t want to miss any moment in the present. I’m not gifted in photography, I can’t take pictures and not miss something said or done. The other day I was sitting on this huge rock looking out over the valley, the fog was lifting, and I was beginning to see the little huts and the river in the distance, and I thought it was such a cool thing to see. I looked around to see if anyone else was seeing what I was and when I turned to continue watching most of the fog had lifted. Moments pass by fast. If I were to try to capture moment after moment I think I would miss out on why the Lord wanted me in there in the first place.
I, and many before me, have made the World Race an identity, a label, but it’s not. The World Race is a journey the Lord has called me to. The World Race is eleven months of living an intentional life for the Lord. It’s not about adding eleven different stamps to my passport. It’s not about the moments captured on instagram. The World Race is not who I am; it’s what the Lord has called me to do right now. It isn’t my life. It is not the “end all”. It’s not to be envied. We all have a choice to live intentionally wherever the Lord has us, that’s something the Lord is engraving deep within me. The Lord is creating in me a passion to equip others to live intentionally. Just do life where you are. If you are fervently seeking the Lord than where you are is where He wants you, so live your life intentionally where you are. One of my elders in my church back home once told me, “You won’t do out there what you aren’t doing here.” He was so right. I was blessed to have had that spoken to me before getting out here. It saved me from a lot of struggle. Before you envy what I’m doing ask yourself if you’re doing what the Lord has called you to do where you are.
I am a follower of Christ. I am a disciple. I am a saved sinner, redeemed. I am a child of God. These are my identity. I am not a World Racer in the sense of being some amazing person. It’s all God. The term World Racer (in my eyes) has become a term that makes people envy me as a person, brings glory to my life, and sets me on high, but that’s not what I want. This is all for the glory of God. The World Race is a name for this trip. We’re all really just doing life together. We’re all making choices daily to live intentionally for Him. Coming here hasn’t made us perfect in our walks, or somehow made us into perfect disciples; it really is a daily choice. I’m faced with the same decisions here as I was at home. My elder was completely right in what he said. Don’t get caught up in the term because it isn’t an identity. You are called just as I am. What are you going to do about it?
