Only a few short weeks until training camp, and then I’m off to the Races with my Squad! I am so excited to be in the field, but it makes every day from now until then seem to be going by SO SLOWLY. I want to go already! The suspense is eating me alive! This has been my biggest struggle for the last few months, but especially over this last week, I’ve really been filled with a sense of peace, like where I am in this is exactly where I am supposed to be. Then it hit me! I am already ON the World Race! My mission doesn’t start when I launch in January. It has already started. Why have I just been waiting at the starting line this entire time?!
Let me clarify. The Great Commission says for us to go into all the nations and make disciples. It’s the last command Jesus gave us before His ascension. I’ve learned over the last year that this means our main goal as Christians should be to make disciples above all else. Not to heal the sick, visit the poor, fight for justice, etc. All of those are good and should be done as well, but they are still not the main objective. The setting for this mission is all nations, and that means just that: ALL nations. The USA is not excluded. If we are called to share our faith and be a light to the world, that starts now and never stops, regardless of where we are and where we are going.
I haven’t exactly “stopped” sharing my life with the people around me, and I haven’t stopped growing in my relationship with the Lord and other believers. I am growing. The Lord is developing me as a leader and as a disciple-maker. He is still actively teaching me to speak boldly and encourage His people. But I feel like the time for “strict preparation” is coming to a close, and now it’s time to act upon the knowledge that the Lord has taught me so far. It’s not going to be perfect, but He is not going to stop coaching me forward. The Race has begun. I can hear the Lord cheering me on right now: “Go, Andrew! GO!”
It kind of reminds me of the times I would watch my brothers play soccer when we were little. I remember how excited they would be to be playing with their teams. I also remember how TERRIBLE they were. And one thing that really comes to mind now is my mom screaming, “Kick the BALL!” I admit, it’s cute to watch little kids play soccer, but I’d be shocked if a kid ever kicked the ball into the correct goal, even by accident. They just don’t quite get what’s going on (as we say it here in their South, bless their hearts). But that’s ok because they are kids. So what about when the kid grows up? How embarrassing would that be?
Enter me, stage right.
See. That’s where I am right now. I am no longer at “soccer practice.” I’m in the middle of different kind of field, excited to do something, but not yet realizing that the whistle has already sounded. Not aware that the kickoff has even begun. Very eager, but with no idea what I’m doing. My Father is watching me on the sidelines, telling me to act on the here and now. It’s all chaos in my mind, but to Him, it’s so obvious! If only I could see what He sees right now!
Sometimes, because we know what lies ahead, we try to live in the future rather than the present. But that does not make the present less enjoyable or less important. Here is something the Lord pressed on my heart this week: Don’t try to force yourself ahead. Enjoy where you are until you get to where you know you are going.
I don’t think this means we sit idle while time passes us by. He still wants us to be active. He knows where you are in this timeline, and that’s where he wants you! Move through it, don’t skip it. We don’t have shortcuts while we are running the Good Race. We shouldn’t get so preoccupied with God’s plans for our futures that we miss what the Lord wants us to do now. Today is a gift! Don’t you want to open the present?
In all things, be blessed!
AG
