Flashback to a sweet little house with dusty floors and old, creaky furniture. This little home created a refuge, a place of friendship and a place of trust. Within those walls, I developed friendships that lifted me up and encouraged me in my faith. It was there where I really came to know Sarah, and I am so grateful that God has placed such an amazing role model and friend in my life.
If you know Sarah, you know that she stands apart from the rest. She shines the light of Jesus by so beautifully illustrating what it means to live by Romans 12:2 which says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” Sarah constantly reminds me how fruitful a life can become when we focus on God alone, and how desperate we will feel when we hopelessly chase after the endless and impossible demands of this world. Whenever I feel defeated, or like I cannot discern the Lord’s voice in a time of need, Sarah is one of the strongest friends who reminds me to pray, to seek God, and to ask Him to enter and move in my life. I always see tangible change when I allow myself to do these things, and to rely on the Christian counsel that Sarah and so many of my wonderful friends provide me. What’s even greater, I now see tangible change in Sarah’s life as she has allowed God to flood her heart and mind and to send her on a journey that will create eternal ripples in places that may never otherwise hear the good news of Jesus Christ. She has accepted God’s perfect will in her own life, and I cannot wait to see how it unfolds for her throughout this next stage of her life’s journey.
In Joshua 7, you see the transformative power that comes from complete trust in God and His ability to lead us in powerful ways. At this part of the story, the Israelites were not seeking God and it was leading to their inability to finally conquer the Promised Land. You can see that even Joshua started to feel defeated, and that is when the Lord intervened to say to him, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?” (Joshua 7:10). “The Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.” (Joshua 7:12). These verses so clearly illustrate that when we do not focus our hearts and our minds on God alone, relying on His wisdom and His strength above our own, then we cannot fulfill what He has planned for us. This is such a difficult truth to master in a world that praises independence and material success, but with a friend like Sarah, I have learned how to set my eyes on the cross alone and how to allow God to lead me away from those tempting, but destructive paths. Sarah is not afraid to take a leap of faith, trusting in what God tells her to do – even if it involves a mission trip that will take her across the globe! Hebrews 11:1 says that “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Sarah has a living hope, more abundant than anything this world could offer. Therefore, she is choosing to accept the unknown and follow the spirit beyond the borders that so many of us comfortably remain within. I admire her faith, her trust, and her courageous heart to listen intently to God’s direction and plan. It truly encourages me to take my next steps of faith on the path He has prepared for me.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16 says, “The person without the spirit does not accept the things that come from the spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” Furthermore, Paul goes on to say in 2 Corinthians 5:13-15 that, “If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore, all died, and he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” When we are truly living our lives for God, taking up our cross and following Christ as we are instructed to do, our lives will not be normal, they will not be comfortable, and they will not be easy. Living a life for Christ means taking courageous next steps, loving our enemies, standing firm in our faith in a culture of doubt, and placing others before ourselves at all times and in all circumstances. Sarah’s upcoming journey so clearly illustrates these truths, and therefore, illustrates what it means to serve God’s Kingdom. As Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.” We do not strive to be “good Christians” or to serve others so that we may elevate ourselves, but we strive to elevate the one who lowered himself to bring us unfathomable love, mercy, and grace. I am so proud of Sarah for engaging in conversations with the Lord, for growing in faith by reading and interacting with His word, and for seeking His glory above her own as she commences her time on the World Race. She is approaching this task with humility, and it’s a wonderful depiction of Christ-like love towards the people she is about to serve.
My prayer for Sarah is that she will not grow weary as she embarks on this incredible journey but will rely on the strength of the spirit to give her the perseverance to keep going in the midst of trials and in the midst of the unknown. Hebrews 6:12 says, “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” The Hebrew people were doing good works, but they were attempting to do so by their own strength and not by relying on the strength that God provides. Therefore, they were becoming tired and lazy because they were not putting God at the center of everything they did. As Hebrews 11:6 says “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” We are only able to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us” by “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2). I know that Sarah will be able to make eternal changes while on this World Race, and I pray that the Spirit would encourage her to focus on Jesus alone to provide her with everything she needs. I am so confident that God will walk beside her every step of the way, and I cannot wait to see the fruit and blessings that she provides to so many people along the way.
Sarah, I am so proud of you. I want to say thank you for leading me in such amazing ways. You are such a wonderful friend and sister in Christ. You remind me every day to focus on the narrow path to the gates of heaven (Matthew 7:13-14), and to take leaps of faith through hope in the power of the cross. I can’t wait to see how God uses you and transforms your heart and your mind these next two months. I love you, and I will be praying for you every step of the way.
