You may not believe me, but life on The Race isn’t always petting tigers and feeding elephants, nor is it always miraculous healings and prophetic messages. Seeing my crazy social media posts, you might assume my life is always sunshine and rainbows, but that simply isn’t the reality of The Race. It would be a deception if I told you anything but the truth. Something I wish I had learned sooner than later is that international mission work is hard…
My expectations coming on The Race were that I’d transform into some sort of super Christian, immune to the difficulties and tribulations faced in everyday life. I believed the lie that missionary work would somehow make walking with the Lord easy. To my surprise, that was not the case! Something I’m continually reminded of is that it is a “walk,” and walking is often slow, careful, not rushed, but always moving forward.
In the beginning, I realize I went through this “honeymoon” phase with the Lord. I saw miracles on a regular basis, I began hearing the Lord’s voice clearly, and It felt like I was riding high above the clouds. I was feeling great, so close with God without having to put too much effort in. What I’ve learned is in any relationship, it’s a give AND take. It goes both ways and requires effort on each side. God desires a relationship with His people. Intimacy between Himself and man.
James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
To draw near to God, as is talked about in Hebrews 11:6, is to “diligently seek Him”.
The word diligent means “persevering attention, constant effort, persistence.” In other words, when you draw near to God, you don’t just do so once in a while or when in the mood. To diligently seek Him is to drop the things that are stealing your time from reading the Word and praying. Spending time with God becomes a priority in your life. It means when you have a busy agenda ahead, you get up early enough to pray instead of skipping time with Him. It is a persistent and constant effort on our part to draw near.
Since coming to Thailand, I’ve experienced a plateau in my faith journey. I then realized in the midst of distractions and that which tries to take my attention, I need to be steadfast and diligent in pursuing the Lord and His will for my life daily. I’m choosing to serve and be here with where my feet, yet the question remains, am I continuing to choose into being and serving here with where my heart is? It’s daily having to choose into His presence, into reading the Word, and into discipline in all areas of my life.
Discipline, whether it be from God, our parents, or ourselves isn’t enjoyable. Hebrews 11:12 says, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Discipline has been a common theme running through my team and this diligent search of God and search for more is often born from discipline.
Being a Christian isn’t an easy journey and Jesus never said it was going to be. Rather, He said the opposite, that “in this world we will have tribulation,” and that “tribulation” can look like many things. On my team, it has looked like spiritual warfare, heart breaking goodbyes, missing moments back home, physical tiredness, boredom, sickness, frustration, not always getting along with teammates, cultural limitations, and very challenging ministry assignments. For many Christians in various parts of the world, persecution is unavoidable, and Christians dying for their faith in Jesus is a very real thing. In the midst of trials, tribulation, and physical persecution many will ask, “Is it worth it?”. My response to that, “It has to be worth it…”
With two weeks left in Thailand before we head off to Central America, I am soon entering into the final stretch of The Race. The distant future often seems foggy and sometimes, at most, I can only see the very next step. While God has the whole journey mapped out ahead of time, he conceives of that journey as a successive series of small steps, and that is the way he often makes it known to us. It is one step at a time, which means having faith despite being unable to see the whole picture. I’m not entirely clear what my future holds, but please be praying for the focus to finish strong.
