PART 2

Jose is not the only one that God has been transforming this year. God has done miraculous things in me as well. I know that He has not only been pruning me all year because pruning needed to be done, but He has been preparing me to be a wife and for whatever capacity he wants to use me in ministry in the future. He has taught me much this year about obedience, submission, support and encouragement, speaking truth and prophesy, and about biblical love. The lessons are deep, significant, and cannot be described concisely. But, they are lifelong lessons that will be applied to me individually, my relationships, and my future ministries. 

OBEDIENCE. God has taught me about what it means to be obedient even when it’s uncomfortable or undesirable. This obedience manifested in many ways. In obedience, I went places I didn’t want to go, gave sacrificially because God called me to it, served when I’d rather not do anything, shared words from the Lord that I knew would not be received well, reached out to those people that I don’t prefer, dealt with past hurts and pains I’d rather have kept buried, and done the uncomfortable when I just wanted to be comfortable. 

Responding to God’s calling to come on this crazy adventure called the World Race in the first place was a response of obedience, and sticking with it and responding to his continual calling and prompting on a daily basis requires the consistent and repetitive choice of obedience. Not only have I learned about what it means to be obedient this year, but God has taught me about timely obedience. Furthermore, I learned and have grown (but not mastered) in having a heart of obedience. God is teaching me to desire the things he calls me to be obedient to. He is teaching me to desire the things I do not naturally desire, but to desire the things he desires for me because He has called me to them.

PROPHESY and SPEAKING TRUTH. God has chosen to use me to deliver prophetic words from him and to speak truth into many people’s lives this year. He has been teaching me what that looks like and how to apply wisdom and discernment. He has been teaching me to speak truth in love without losing the integrity of the messages he wants me to deliver. 

There are many times when God asks me to bring a word from him to someone and I really don’t want to because I know that it will not be received well. I don’t like to say or do things that I know will end in me being rejected by the other person or perhaps treated poorly from that point forward, especially if it is someone on my team/squad that I will be living with 24/7 all year. It is unpleasant and I don’t like or want that. But, I am learning and accepting that if it is from God, I am going to be obedient. I have also been given some perspective. God has given me a new respect for prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel. I must say, I have great respect for the men and women in the Bible whom God has used to be prophets and the messengers of his word (or the bearers of bad news). I am thankful that any “bad news” God has asked me to share has in no way been of the caliber of the news that were asked to share and were obedient to deliver. This year God has definitely used these Old Testament prophets to give me perspective.