As of late, it has been my new favorite thing to observe someone’s reaction when I state that I will be spending next year traveling the world. I know this may be developing into an extremely bad habit, and that I should probably offer more of an explanation, but it’s too dang fun! I am getting ready to graduate school in May as an engineering major. Everyone’s favorite go-to topic is the dreaded “real world” (which ironically enough I was told started in college…) where we apparently are all supposed to graduate with honors, then either get married or a well-paying job or BOTH, then settle down and make ridiculous amounts of money. In my department, we get to talk about who we are interviewing with these days, how we revamped our resume so that employers will love us, and what the latest is concerning the job market. To this I like to just shrug and drop an unexpected curve ball, “I dunno, I’m planning on traveling around the world”. SO my friends here is the true explanation; my “elevator speech” if you will. This is my heart and where I believe the Lord is leading me as I do in fact enter the real world in all its raw beauty and mess.
God loves the world. This might be a “well, DUH” moment for you or an indifferent shrug. Think about it. The WORLD! His love is so simple yet so profound. All we are required to do is to love Him and believe in Him. He has already done the work for us by taking all our faults, all our mistakes, our dirty thoughts, our lying lips, our manipulation, entitlement, pride etc and died for that. He has paid the price for us. He has settled the debt by dying on a cross and setting us free enabling us to have a relationship with the God of this earth. The God who loves this earth SO much. The crazy thing is, once you start falling more in love with Christ, you start falling more in love with the things that He loves. It gets even MORE crazy when you start doing the things that He loves to do and learning obedience to his voice. Like love people and serve them. If anyone has ever told you that following Jesus is boring, they lied to you. It is an adventure and He wants the whole world to know. That is simply why I want to go. Its not too complex, and it doesn’t need to be. I want to chase after Jesus.
So why around the world? Can’t I just love people in the US, while perhaps working like a normal human being? Well, yes, I could in fact graduate, get a job, maybe even post a world map up on my wall. I could go as far as to commit to praying for different people groups. I could read an article about human trafficking and mope for half a day. I could even give a percentage of my money to the cause of my choice. All this is all good and well, but it’s not enough for me. I want to put names to the millions of faces. I want to hug those who are hurting, pray for those who are injured, and speak light into dark places. I want to find shelter for the homeless, draw water for the thirsty, and cloth those who have nothing. I want to live out Isaiah 42:8 “to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison, and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness”. I want to learn how to rely on the Lord’s strength and not my own. I want to see different cultures worshiping the Lord. Genesis to Revelation speaks of every nation, tribe, people and language coming together under one simple profound concept; to glorify God.
I think I have surpassed my suggested appropriate word amount, so God will sum this one up Himself…
How then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:14)
