Dear Future Racer,
You don’t know me but I know you. You’ve got a case of fernweh(the longing to see places you haven’t yet). You’ve got an itch you just can’t scratch. You want to do more, be more, see more! You want to drop everything and leave, right now. You want to pack your bag and hit the road, right now! SEE YA! Yeah, I get you!
You want to see all the things, heal all the people, paint all the walls, jump off those waterfalls, preach all the sermons, pass out all the Bible’s, zip line in jungles, build all the houses, play soccer with all those kids in the nations… sound about right?
Dear Future Racer,
I want you to do all those things that you’ve got on your list while you are on the Race. I dooooo! But Racer, I don’t want you to miss your Race! I don’t want you to miss out on being intentionally poured out and stretched in community because you’re not ready for abandonment of home. I don’t want you to get so caught up in your plans to feed elephants or jump off of that cliff that you miss out on God’s divine interruption in the form of your taxi driver. They may need to hear about Jesus. I would hate for you to think ministry ends when your time on the clock is over. Some of the best ministry you’ll have is to the owner of that coffee shop you frequent, or the girl at the kebab store! I don’t want you to get so caught up in counting down the days that you have until you leave for your Race that you miss out in the beautiful season of waiting. There is such abundance and provision there! I don’t want you to miss the goodness in chopping those vegetables, pushing those kids on swings, painting those fences, moving those concrete blocks! You are going to do such beautiful work for Kingdom, even in the seemingly silly or mundane tasks. That is beautiful ministry too!
Dear Future Racer, you’re about to say “yes” to a year of good gifts from your Heavenly Father- are you ready to receive them? Are you ready to lay down your life and pick up your cross? Are you ready to live a life of abandonment? Are you ready to receive feedback and apply it? Are you ready to dredge up all of the baggage you’ve been carrying in your heart and finally lay it down so you can really, truly, run your race? Are you ready to be entrusted with the gospel, and the responsibility to share it?
Are you ready to take hold of this precious gift that is the World Race?
Dear Future Racer,
know that above all else, you are prayed for, chosen and appointed to do this!
You are so loved. Remember that when feedback is hard.
You are anointed. Remember that when the enemy is hitting you behind the knees. You are exactly where you should be.
You are treasured. Remember that when the enemy tries to tell you that you’re too much or not enough.
You are worthy. You are chosen. You are precious. You are glory. You are accepted. You are appointed. You are called.
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:17-18
