Yesterday (Thailand time) it was my 26th birthday. I absolutely love my birthday! Up until college, I started counting down the days a few weeks out from my birthday, and I always love celebrating it with friends and family. As I experienced a great birthday World Race style (with chocolate chip pancakes, setting off paper lanterns, and gifts like peanut butter and toilet paper), I reflected on the past year of my life.
Last year at this time, I was having a bit of a pity party. The excitement of my birthday did not overshadow the hurt I felt over not being where I wanted to be in life. I turned 25 in a very different way than I planned. Left up to me, I would have been celebrating with my husband and at least one child. I would have been celebrating in a house of my own. Instead I celebrated my birthday single, with family and a few friends. A good birthday, but not what I expected. I hadn’t heard of the World Race yet, but as I reflected on my life last year, I felt this restlessness. I felt a hunger for more. I didn’t know it yet, but it wasn’t a hunger for more of my plans and dreams to go my way. It was a soul hunger; a deep ache for more of God and His will for my life.
Now, a year later, I am on an adventure of a lifetime. Here I am, traveling the world to share Christ with others. I am seeing the world and meeting people I would never have dreamed of meeting. I am, for the first time in my life, living in true, raw community. I am constantly encouraged to grow in Christ and to face my insecurities and fears. I have a purpose in my life. God is daily drawing me to Himself. How full and rich my life is at this moment! And yet, it’s not the World Race that has brought about this change in my outlook.
The World Race did not bring me true joy, true contentment, true intimacy with Christ. Only God did that. When I let go and told God I would follow Him no matter what, He began changing me. He called me to go on the World Race as part of my journey, and I will be forever thankful for that. But even if I had still never heard of the World Race, I know that I would be content with my life. You see, it is God who brings peace and joy when we give ourselves over to Him. He has done a work in me that will stay with me forever.
My question for you now is: what is stopping you from giving it all up to God? What is preventing you from saying, “Whatever, God. Whatever You want for my life, whatever your plans are, whatever you want to change in me…do that!” I promise you, it is scary as all get out. It is messy, it hurts, it challenges you. But it also brings indescribable joy. It changes you from the inside out. I went from a bitter 25 year old who questioned why I was single and why my life wasn’t going the way I wanted, to a joyful and content 26 year old who is daily laying down my heart at the feet of Christ.
God may not call you to the World Race. But I guarantee He’s got a pretty legit plan for your life. Why don’t you trust Him, take that leap of faith, and ask Him what it is?
If you’d like to see a visual of what life on the Race looks like for a 26-year-old, check out my video:
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