It is no surprise that the World Race brings about a lot of change. More than the average human experiences day to day I would say. Committing for the race I knew that there would be lots of change. Every month a new country. Every month saying goodbye just to turn around for new hellos and a new country and a new home for the new month.
But here we are, month six. Today marks my half way point on the race. With this milestone, I couldn’t help but to stop and think of how much change I have gone through the last five months. How many people I have met, how many people I have lived with then said goodbye to a few weeks later, the different foods I have tried, the teams that have been switched, continent change, time zone change, environment change, and different currencies. The list goes on. I reflect on the different seasons I have not only started, but completed. I think of all the buses, cars, and planes we have been on for hours at a time…then when we get off one to turn around and go on three or four more just the same length, if not longer. How many different beds have I slept on in the last five months? How many places did I make a bed because we happened to spend the night there? It makes me think of the longest time I’ve stayed in one place within the last five months.
Change becomes the new normal. Packing a bag. Unpacking a bag. Being able to sleep anytime, anywhere. The amount of times I have found myself in a black hole of time because I have nothing to base the day or time off of. Every few days, every few weeks, every few months a new thing.
Isn’t this the dream? The American dream? Something new. Always new. Never ending newness. We get “bored” with routine. Overstimulated. Cant focus on one thing. We do it with everything. Jobs, relationships, things, significant other – or lack of, places we live, our entire life. Never ending newness. Because new is new. Its shiny. Exciting. Enticing.
But isn’t there more? There has to be more than having to always say goodbye to things. At some point we want to settle down. Grow roots.
We can’t always choose that in the world. We can try, but the next day the economy could crash, someone could pass away, we could go to war, lose our job, break an arm, or our car breaks down on us.
You’re probably thinking by this point, “this is a bit hopeless” and you’re right. It is. Everything I just talked about is, because it is of the world.
You’re right. It is hopeless without Jesus.
Out of the countless beginnings and ends, hellos and goodbye, nights slept in towns I can’t pronounce, currency changes, and cultural foods I have tried, there has been one thing: Jesus. The one steady constant in my life. The one steady constant in this ever changing journey. He has been there every step of the way even in my deepest discomforts when it felt more like I was on a different planet rather than a different continent. He has been the first thing in the morning and the last thing before I fall asleep. He has been there in the good, bad, and ugly. He has held me when I cried and celebrated with me in my greatest joys. Even when I don’t show up, He does. He never fails to. Even when I kinda suck, He doesn’t. He is the surest thing I know. He is the constant in my life. The rock on which I have built my life. He has never moved, never swayed. Even when I shook, even when the world shook, He didn’t budge. He is who He says He is: abounding in love (1 John 4:8), Holy (Isaiah 6:3), Giver of grace (1 Peter 5:10), Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), Giver of GOOD gifts (James 1:17), sovereign over everything (Ephesians 1:11), never ending (Mark 13:31), beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13).
He is everything.
No matter the chances of us having running water one month, a bed to sleep on, electricity, or having to tent in the desert; the chances of God’s goodness being there is a sure deal. It is never a gamble with Him.
I couldn’t imagine the amount of change I’ve had the past five months without something to hold true to. But I do have that, it is Him. Jesus. The King of Kings.
