It has been a little over a month since I have said good-bye to a group of 50 people that have traveled, cried, laughed, explored, prayed, and lived with for 11 months. I have had a month of figuring out how to live in the states, how to wake up alone, how to stay true to the lessons and revelations God has taught me, and how to comprehend what just happened. The World Race was a beautiful journey for me. No, it wasn’t always easy. No, problems and weaknesses didn’t disappear. But yes, God showed up every single time I called. So as I look back on something that I can barely describe, these are some of the lessons God and my R Squad Family has taught me.
Busy isn’t an Achievement
Generally, in the states, when you ask someone how they are they respond in two ways: fine or busy. We have come to believe the lie that if we are busy then it means our lives are full. Or the lie that in order to have the life you want, you have to be busy for a time. That’s not biblical. That’s not what God’s design was for people. He gave Adam charge over the entire Garden of Eden, all the plants and all the animals. That’s a big responsibility. And Adam could have filled his schedule, but the Bible says in the evenings Adam would walk in the garden with God.
Break out of being busy. Don’t pick up the lie that really does take away instead of add. Spend time with God. Real time. And then spend time with the friends, family, and community that is in your life. If you feel isolated, it may be because you have become a slave to busy-ness instead of a free child of God.
Life is About Perspective
Going out in the world, not as a tourist but as a true participant of culture, you live like the people around you. That means letting go of the lifestyle you are accustomed to. It means being content exactly where you are and what you have and what you are doing. You can choose to complain and view your life through what you are lacking or you can choose to view your life by what you have been given.
The Bible says “choose joy.” That means you must look at your life and say, I choose to celebrate the life God is letting me live. There were hard things I had to experience. Showering in the mountains of the Himalayas isn’t something I would considered enjoyable, but because it’s about perspective, I lived the moment laughing. You can choose your perspective which in turn means you choose the quality of your life. What will you choose?
God will be as Big as You Allow
Take a moment and think about your life. Think about if you never accepted Christ, what would your life look like? Would you simply have a morning off on Sundays and that’s it? God has a beautiful, wild, full life for you, but it’s your decision if you want it. God showed up in huge ways this year, but it wasn’t because we were out in different countries or lived out of a backpack. It was because we chose to let God be our everything. When we had no assigned place to be, were we going to just plan what made sense or were we going to pray and see what God wanted.
If God isn’t a big part of your life, let go of some of the control, spend time building your relationship with God, and when you hear a gentle whisper, listen and trust that God is not going to let you down. It’s a great life, and God wants you to live it.
Individualism is a Plague
A major theme of the New Testament is about the body of Christ coming together in unity. We are called a body, a functioning form of many parts that only thrives and exists when every part is there. So why do we think it is ok to live as individuals, thinking our life only affects us. Individualism is destroying our church and our faith. We uplift, encourage, exhort, and walk with other believers. Our lives are intertwined and so is our faith.
Much of what was learned on the race was about letting go of “me” mentality and learning to live for one another. Letting down the facade and letting others in. Learning to not be afraid to say the hard things and love unconditionally. It’s easy to step back into individualism, but I know what life is like in community and that’s what God has called us all into.
You Must Run Your Own Race
There were over 40 people on the race with me. And we all came from different places, different walks of life, and at different places with God. It would have been very easy to compare where I am to where someone else was. Why are they fasting? Should I fast since they are? Why are they getting dreams and words? I feel this but they don’t so maybe I heard wrong. Comparisons would go on and on. And it will ruin someone’s race. And life.
“One thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize that God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:14
My race, my life, my journey is uniquely created for me by the Father. Only I can live it and fulfill it, and only I will walk through it. It won’t look like others and other’s journeys won’t look like mine. We must help each other run our unique races and not get caught in trying to run someone else’s race or force them to run ours.
I Think There’s Something in Blogging
I don’t think that I am some amazing writer with the most fascinating stories to tell. I do, however, know that writing is a form of worship for me. It wasn’t until being on the race, being given the platform and expectation to write, that God was given the space to do something new through me. I had tried writing beforehand, but now that I’ve created a habit and met God in it, I can’t let it go. I don’t know what blogging will look like for me now that I no longer am on the race, but I know that it will still be a part of my life.
Life is Beautiful with Strangers
We tell children all the time, “Don’t talk to strangers.” Generally, it is because they don’t have the ability to discern situations yet. But even as adults, and especially as Christians with the Holy Spirit, we have mistakenly adopted that mentality. Everyone is unsafe to us. Everyone is going to cross us when given the chance.
Well this year, I survived only with the help of strangers. First my team, then my host, then the random people in every single country I went to. The bakery owner in Costa Rica, the dentist student at the food festival in Malaysia, the EMTs in New York, the man on the bus in Sri Lanka. Strangers are generally great people. God crosses people’s paths for reasons and the beauty comes in identifying that and engaging. Don’t be afraid.
Don’t Deflect Your Weaknesses
When you live with the same people for months with zero personal space and cut off from most of the world, you don’t get to pretend to be ok for long. Where in the states, you see people at most for an hour, on the race you get alone time at most for an hour. That means that all those flaws, all those little things about yourself that you know but still can’t seem to fix are going to show.
If you want true community, if you want lasting growth, and if you want to stop wearing the mask of someone you aren’t, worried that one day you will be found out, you cannot deflect your weaknesses. You can’t play the blame game, you cannot live in the victim circle, and you cannot avert attention onto another’s weakness. Do you have control issues? Ok. Say you have them, be real when you notice it’s happening, and be humble enough to let others walk with you to call you higher than your issues and encourage you in all the little successes. If you keep ignoring your weaknesses, you never give God the chance to show his power in your life.
Sarcasm Stunts Growth
Sarcasm is a tricky one, because the user never starts out wanting to be malicious. It usually starts off as comedic relief. However, sarcasm worms its’ way into a community culture, subtly building walls that limit vulnerability. It is a power grab of who is smarter or more adept to reach a conclusion first. It creates a dynamic of second-guessing, should I say this or will I get teased environment. And you don’t even realize it when it’s happening.
But looking at my race, I had three teams. And in two of them, sarcasm was there. There was growth on all three teams, there were wonderful friendships, and good times. But only in one team was there a true sisterhood formed, where everyone was heard, everyone was loved unconditionally, everyone grew, and everyone walked away knowing that they were seen and cared for. I choose to fight against sarcasm because of what is gained when my words are true and honest.
Do You Make Time?
From January 12 to November 20, I read 74 books and the New Testament, excluding Revelation (still working my way through that). It isn’t that I am some amazing speed reader, but I made a choice at the beginning. I wasn’t going to download Netflix, and I wasn’t going to bring movies with me. I love reading and in my life in the states I wasn’t reading as much as I wanted to. So I was given a Kindle and a Kindle Unlimited subscription, and that would be my entertainment on the race.
We are all given the same amount of time. And ask anyone with me my the first month, there are A LOT of hours in a day when you don’t have distractions. You must choose what you make time for. Is it your friends or family you wish you had more time with? Is it that art class you have always wanted to take? Is it really spending time with God, without distractions that you want? Make the time for it. Things that you think are important may not actually be that dire to what really fills your life with joy.
You Don’t Need to Know
As we began preparing to leave the race and come back to the states, plans began forming. Some of my squad is going back out on the race as alumni leaders, some of my squad is going back to school, or going on a mission expedition through Asia. And this is what God told me I was going to do: stay in Austin for 1-3 years and then something big is happening. That’s it. Nothing else. And I was content with that, because usually I mess up God’s plans if I know them. But then the nasty bug of comparison came in, and I was tempted to step out of contentment.
Even coming home, people ask 1)how was your trip and then immediately follow up with 2)so what are you doing next. I don’t know. I have thoughts and ideas, but until I know I am walking with the will of God, I don’t know what “next” looks like. And I don’t need to. We don’t need to pretend we know what our futures are going to look like. If we have truly given God our lives, then we live in the present, where we focus on where God is walking us at the moment. Let go of the idea that you need to know what God is planning for your life, and simply live it in trust.
The World Race was not easy, but it was so life-giving, so adventurous, and an experience I am glad I had enough trust in God to go on. God calls us all to lives that make no sense, but not everyone chooses to let go of control, walk away from fear, and walk into His promises. I have one blog left to write, but if this is the last one you read, please step out. Do not be afraid. God will show up every time.
