I have been on the race for 6 months. Yep! It has already been that long. The time has flown by. The days seem to be long but the months are so short. At this point in the race there appears to be a lot of reflection on where we have come from, where we are now, and where we are going.
I have been discussing a lot about how the journey has affected me & the growth that I have had (I’ve decided not to call it changes, I feel that change = negative and growth = positive)
I am continuously amazed at the Lord. For the first time in my life I am actually living in relationship with him, and guess what? It has been the most joyful and peaceful time of my life. Don’t get me wrong though, there have been struggles. But I am stronger because of them and I am realizing that when we are living in relation with Him, listening for Him, and following through with His guide we see the world through His eyes. BTW it’s gorgeous!!! There is such BEATUY & FREEDOM in Him!!
I realized that judgment and comparison is something that many of us struggle with (& here I was thinking it was just me). And when you live in community you can either grow from this or it can eat you alive. The judgment we speak over ourselves has a direct correlation to the judgment we place on others. As long as we continue to judge and compare ourselves we will continue to do that to others. We know that the Lord is the only one that can judge fairly and that it is not our duty to judge others; that it is our duty to love others. (Duh! Love your neighbor, it says it right there in the 10 commandments) It is pretty much true that you can’t truly love others until you love yourself. So everyday wake up and thank the Lord for who you are and where you are at. Because You’re AWESOME!
I have also been discussing about what I am going to be doing after the race. Because yeah I have to start thinking about going home at some point. I know that the Lord still has so much planned for me now and in the next few months, but the future is making me feel like a deer in head lights. Honestly, I am terrified of going home. I have been in such a happy place and at peace with where I am in my life that I don’t want it to end; I am scared of the change (but that’s where I get reminded that as long as I am living life with Him I will be in those happy places & there will be growth) I am going to miss the buddy system (ok maybe not, but the community was great).
The other night I could not fall asleep (don’t have coffee with dinner), but the Lord used that time for us. We got to discuss the future (well at least the near future). I felt that he was giving me a plan for when I return home after the race. Of course after I listened I questioned it all and was like if I do that, what if this happens. (He has gotten used to hearing me question His plans) Something crazy about it though; I am not questioning the route he paved before me, I’m questioning how am I going to screw it up or what might go worng. (I’m human, I am going to screw up…but he will always be there)(The Lord doesn’t mind taking the back roads with me)
On February 20, 2015 this was my team’s devotion from Streams in the Desert (The night after I had a great talk with a friend about growth and fear of what’s to come & the night that the Lord told me exactly what to do)
Nothing will be impossible for you (Matthew 17:20)
It is possible for believers who are completely willing to trust the power of the Lord for their safekeeping and victory to lead a life of readily taking His promises exactly as they are and finding them to be true.
It is possible to daily “cast all your anxiety on him” (1 Peter 5:7) and experience deep peace in the process.
It is possible to have our thoughts and the desires of our hearts purified in the deepest sense of the word.
It is possible to see God’s will in every circumstance and accept it with singing instead of complaining.
It is possible to become strong through and through by completely taking refuge in the power of God and by realizing that our greatest weakness and the things that upset our determination to be patient, pure, and humble provide an opportunity to make sin powerless over us. This opportunity comes through Him who loves us and who works to bring us into agreement with His will, and thereby supplies a blessed sense of His presence and His power.
All these are divine possibilities. Because/Since they are His work, actually experiencing them will always humble us, causing us to bow at His feet and teaching us to hunger and thirst for more.
We will never be satisfied with anything less-each day, each hour, or each moment in Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
“We are able to have as much of God as we want. Christ puts the key to His treasure chest in our hands and invites us to take all we desire. If someone is allowed into a bank vault, told to help himself to the money, and leaves with one cent, whose fault is it if he remains poor? And whose fault is it that Christians usually have such meager portions of the free riches of God?” – Alexander Maclaren
Yep he did it again!
Touchdown! Not just any touchdown; the final seconds of the game, 100+ yard kickoff return, for the win kind of touchdown…That Lord of ours; always giving us what we need at just the right moment.
Though I have not reached my financial deadline yet I know that it will be provided. I am so certain about this not because I know where it is going to come from (because I really have no idea), but because I know that I am exactly where the Lord wants me. I am following his guide and he will provide and lead me through it.
