Praise God! World Race 2013 has officially begun! Hello from Guatemala!
So let me start off by saying this; the concept of “settling in” does not register with God. The Big Man wastes no time in the construction of His Kingdom. God has called us into action in ways that I did not really expect, at least not this soon. He has challenged us, as individuals, to a new depth of vulnerability. He has challenged each and everyone on the squad to break away from our fleshy ties.
How many times have you heard the term “deepest and darkest secrets?” A boatload would be the answer to that. We all have em’. We all have things about our life that we do not share with others, we all have our mess, we ALL have our struggles. It’s in those things that God has called us into action; it is those things that God had called us share.
So there I stood in front of my whole squad and all our leaders exposing my deepest and darkest secrets. I was scared, I was uncomfortable, simply put I was freakin’ out. I was allowing other people to hear things about me that I didn’t even want to acknowledge about myself. However, in doing so I have never felt and seen such release from bondage. It is no coincidence that God called us to share our pain. It is no coincidence that God called us to share our brokenness.
I believe that last concept is something that spreads over all people, holds true for all sons and daughters of Christ. We are ALL broken people until Lord God mends us whole. It is the broken people that God uses to shake the nations! He takes the cripples, He takes the blind, He takes the outcasts, He takes the weird, He takes the lost, He takes the sick, He takes the possessed, He takes the adulterers, and He takes the broken hearted and turns them into agents of His holiness! It is these people that God uses to bring His perfect love and holiness into this world that needs Him ever so greatly.
Now let me tell you this. I am no longer ashamed to call myself one of these broken people. I have tried living my way. I have tried to make my own rules and create my own joy. I have tried and I have failed, failed miserably. God did not create us to live a life without Him, yet at some point in our lives we all have or will try to. We will all fail if we try to live a life without God. Whether you want to admit it or have yet to recognize it we are all broken until we accept and love the Lord for what He sent Jesus to do on the Cross. We are all broken until that brokenness is left at the one and only place it belongs… at the foot of the cross.
The moment that truth is recognized and acknowledged is where God really starts to go to town on our souls. The process of this is not easy, it is not always fun. Breaking chains of our past takes blood, sweat, and tears. However, once those chains are broken… God can really start to use you for what is truly wonderful.
I invite all of you to let go of all the pain and shame that you are holding on to. I invite you all to place these burdens at the foot of the cross. I invite you all to join this body of once broken people. I invite you all to know more about this mysterious love that is God.
