Hello, Folks!
So, for my first blog post I want to share a little of where my heart is at going into this great adventure. No one gets anywhere without a trail and my decision to go on this particular trip has been influenced by many factors. Over the past few years of trying to plan through what in the world I am going to do with my life, it has been pretty clear that the Father intends for me to wait on Him instead of movie on to what I think is next. In short, He hasn’t given me any strong direction, and it is at this point looking back on the journey that I can see why. Here is a short summary of what the Father has used to influence me over the past few years and where my heart is at because of His prodding.
Henry David Thoreau was one of the most eccentric men of the 19th century. He wrote some of the finest American literature to date, and his outspoken stance on the transcendentalist philosophy has left a lasting impression on cultures around the world. His most well-known work describes his two year stay at Walden pond where he occupied a cabin he built himself. There he lived minimally in the age of industry. In this book , he made a statement that has had a lasting impact on my own way of thinking. When confronted with his reasons for leaving society, Thoreau said, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and to see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” The main things that stands out to me in this quote is the desire to live deliberately that Thoreau expresses. What actually does it mean to live with purpose? For Thoreau, living deliberately meant trimming life down to the bare necessities of what was needed to survive. However, what does it mean for the Christ follower?
I have wrestled with this question ever since I first read these words of Thoreau. No doubt, it could yield a variety of answers; however, at the end of the matter, I believe our responsibility, as Christ followers, is too be deliberate with every opportunity we have to glorify our Father and to be purposeful with every chance we have to minister to the lost. A pretty simple answer. In Luke 12, Christ tells a parable of servants waiting for their master’s return and says that those who do the will of their master will not be punished. Without doubt, Matthew 28 leaves little room for interpretation as to what the will of our Master is. The problem I faced when I first came to this conclusion, and that I still battle with now, is in being obedient to what I have been commanded to do. My life is not my own and everything I have is a direct gift from my Father. Eternity is long and this life is just a breath. How, then, can I be so given to living in a way that is not at all deliberate and, at times, counter-productive? How can I waste time, sitting on my hands at home, engulfed in entertainment or school or my own comfort when millions are in anguish, seeking the answers found in the Gospel? The truths of the Gospel should more than send a shiver up my spine. They should shake me to the core until my every self-absorbed thought is disregarded and my only conviction is to seek and minister to those who have never know Christ. How can I be so apathetic to the lost in light of Christs love for sinners?
Paul describes this struggle, with great detail, in one of my favorite passages of Romans. At the end of the seventh chapter, he describes perfectly the war between the Law of Sin, which exists in our flesh, and the Law of God, which exists through Christ Jesus. Paul writes, “I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law, but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Christ Jesus our Lord!” Paul concludes that this internal battle can only be won through Christ’s power. That a change of heart can only be acquired from the Savior and that I cannot change my mindset on my own.
This is where I am, now. I have faced the fact that as long as I am bound by the flesh I will war with it’s desire to live a self-absorbed life. However, through much prayer and Christ’s intervention my desires have been molded to better align with the Fathers mind for missions. I am still a long way from being the man of God I have been called to be; however, I cling to this promise in Philippians where Paul writes that, “He who begun a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
In short, that is where I am now and that is the path that has brought me to the World Race. I’ve known for a while I would need to take a gap year just to pull my life together a little bit. I have gone as far as I can go at my local community College, and now is the time for decisions to be made about my future. I have no idea where I want to go or what I want to be. I chose the World Race because I feel that it will stretch me beyond the limits of what I am comfortable with, thrusting me into a deeper dependence on the Father, continuing the work Christ began in my life. I believe this is the next chapter in my relationship with the Father and over the next year on this journey, I intend to be deliberate, taking every opportunity to be obedient to the Fathers call. Here, quite literally at the trail-head of life, I want to take some time off from the culture I have become accustomed to and to go places where I am not comfortable. For a rough comparison, as Thoreau went to the woods to face the most essential parts of life, I want to go to the mission field and seek what is most important. To face only the most essential part of life, which is my relationship with the Creator. This is where my heart is at as I begin this journey and why I have felt called to this trip. I cannot begin to express my excitement for what lies ahead, and I invite you to travel with me by lifting both me and my squad mates before the Father in prayer.
Through the Father’s Grace!
-Colby
