Why -“The great enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but the good which is not good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best.” Oswald Chambers
I believe that God has called all of us into more. Not more money, more stuff, or even more people – but the ability to widen and deepen our short experience of life on this Earth into more. And because I believe that God has called me to this, I have a chosen to be obedient to this call. Obedience not as a requirement to earn His love, but from an understanding of my position within His love that already exists and solidifies the knowledge that there is in fact more out there.
Don’t get me wrong, I have a good life that I am very happy with. A great relationship, family, friends, church and even a job doing what I have always wanted to do – empower vulnerable populations in the fulfillment of their potential. So why would I put all of these tasks, identities and relationships on hold for a year?
Great question internet.
Short answer – Because Good is not the Best.
Long answer – Two important facets to continually explore and balance – input and output.
I crave more input from God. I hear Him on the edges of my mind sharing feelings and thoughts like the shifting whispers of a cloud, and feeling like ‘if only’ I had a few more minutes, an ounce more of concentration, a bit more something, I could catch Him. This busy western world provides plenty of distractions from this chase. I want to sit spellbound in His presence, absorb His peace and unravel in His grace; soak up the love, spring into the challenge, and emerge from this retreat as a whole new person. He has begun showing me that this process is less of a meditative cloud and more of a steep hike to boldly set out upon. So that’s what I intend. Through abandonment of my hastily created world and the position I have carved out in it, I pursue true fulfillment and identity in Him. From this new position in the back, the bottom, the beginning, I hope to learn what it means to lead my life as a follower of Christ.
God has also given me a beautiful vision of the Output that is possible on and from this trip. Once we experience Him and His active love for us, we are naturally passionate about acting in love for others in the same way. I have learned so much in the past few years about creating a nonjudgmental presence and comfortably holding space to see, deal and reflect the pain in the World. He has given me a vision of healing by listening before speaking, witnessing before fixing, and apologizing before explaining. Waking every morning in a cramped tent, thousands of miles from my loved ones, unable to speak the local language and probably battling a stomach bug just to go out and bear witness to the raw pain of a life without Christ will be incredibly challenging. But the potential output of this service, pointing precious humans towards their Savior and His infinitely superior ability to see and heal, that is worth 334 days and so much more.
How – With everyone’s help! See my next post for how you can join in bringing the love and healing power of Jesus to every corner of the World!
“We are called to be free and set others free, because this is what Christ has done for us! We are called to take the wild road, the adventurous road and to risk big for the Glory of God and the good of the people we love.” Connolly and Morgan
*** For more on this adventure, read the what, where, when here! ***
Read this Incredible Book! I have read (underlined, circled, highlighted, rewritten, loved) it three times so far! I will probably quote it MANY times on this blog but I always want to give credit to the authors AND encourage/inspire/harass as many people into reading it as possible.
Another Incredible Read for your consideration! It’s so good I’ll probably name my first born child Oswald.
