When someone decides to leave everything behind, a natural question people want to know is, why?
It’s something I’ve been asking myself too.
For a while I wasn’t exactly sure why I wanted to go and why I applied. Yes, I have the opportunity to travel to 11 countries in 11 months experiencing other cultures, building relationships, playing with kids and most importantly sharing the gospel, but there’s another reason, which I feel is the REAL reason, I want to go.
I want to be stripped and emptied of myself just as Christ was so that I can become a vessel for God to do his will.
“Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
(The Message: Philippians 2:5-8)
For 25 years I have lived a rather selfish, privileged and comfortable life, especially compared to the rest of the world. In the eyes of most, I am an affluent, elite and an entitled millennial.
I grew up in a loving family where my parents would bend over backwards for my sisters and me. My dad provided for our family immensely and my mom was an incredible and selfless homemaker. I had no chores and little responsibilities. My mom cooked all of our meals, packed lunches, did our laundry, cleaned the house and helped with homework. Their schedules revolved around ours. I played competitive soccer since I was 10 years old and traveled all over the country playing all the way through college. Not only was that a huge investment of their money, but also their time and life. After college, I moved out to the increasingly popular state, Colorado. To keep it brief, I landed myself an amazing job, apartment, church, friends and was able to spend time with my sister and her family!
While I know that all of these things are good and I consider everything God’s blessings, I feel He is calling me now to step out of these comforts and experience and trust Him in new ways.
In a life of much independence, it’s easy to rely and focus on myself rather than God. While I’ve grown leaps and bounds in my faith and relationship with Jesus over the last few years, I still find myself living a pretty selfish life with my time, my money, and my relationships and therefore ultimately making little impact for the Kingdom of God.
Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.
The World Race is an invitation to do just that. Give up all my comforts, self-ambitions, self-help, self-absorption and instead fix my eyes on Jesus and the Kingdom of God.
So come and empty me So that it’s you I breathe I want my life to be Only Christ in me So I will fix my eyes ‘Cause you’re my source of life I need the world to see That it’s Christ in me That it’s Christ in me
While writing this blog, I heard this song, “Christ in me” by Jeremy Camp on the radio. That’s when I knew this was the REAL reason, God’s reason, for me going on the World Race.
