For a Racer an I-pod is a multi-purpose tool. It’s functions
could be as follows:
1.
Personal
Space. You plug in and you find some probably much needed alone time during
a 14 hour bus ride or an 18 hour flight.
2.
God Time.
You plug in and just soak in His presence and can read your Bible while
listening to the prophetic worship of Bethel Church, etc.
3.
Worship.
A lot of times on the race you get a chance to lead worship and if you are less
than musically inclined you can pull out your I-pod and hook it up so your
team, the squad, or whatever church you may be at can join in worshipping the
Lord with Chris Tomlin, Jon Foreman, etc.
4.
Noise
Blocker. If you are out in a village or even in a city a racer discovers
that there is a copious amount of noises that can make it hard to sleep. I.E.
dogs that bark long into the night, Roosters that did not watch the cartoons
that show them as only crowing once when the sun comes up, Ethnic music,
chanting over loud speakers, etc. In those instances and I-pod is a blessing
that allows you to plug in and drift off to sleep to the soothing tones of
Norah Jones or Jack Johnson.
5.
Mind
Blocker. If you are like me, your mind runs constantly. Always thinking
about something, a word you read or a word that was given to you, a moment you
may or may not have missed… All those things that sometimes end up in being
frustrated or restless. In those moments it is nice to tune your brain out of
that and into something less complicated like Mae, or Eisely, or Shane and
Shane.
These are just a few of the
reasons having an I-pod on the Race can be nice. But upon our arrival here in
Africa I was quickly relieved of my I-pod by someone with sticky fingers. As a
result God is teaching me a lot about a life lived without my i-pod. .. It has
been a bit of a challenge but I love seeing God show up.
When it first
happened I was quickly reminded that whatever the enemy takes, it must be given
back seven fold. I smiled at the thought of that and praised the Lord and
prayed over my i-pod. I asked that even if I never get it back, that whoever
took it would be changed by the worship music that was on there. I then pressed
further asking that they pass it along to those in their town and that revival
would break out as a result. Why Not right? We are called to live in a God
sized reality so why not dream those God Sized Dreams? Since then, my heart is growing more and
more. Rather than thinking of ways to kill the roosters who start crowing at
4am and don’t stop until around 5pm I’ve been praying that they will bless
their owners… Instead of being frustrated by lack of alone space I get to learn
more about my teammates and God in them.
I get to turn that which the enemy intended for me to curse into a prayer list…
It was a simple concept but one I had never delved deeper into. I get to spend
time talking to God and blessing others rather than cursing. It drives the
enemy nuts when we do that, bless rather than curse. But more than that it
honors our Father when we choose to love rather than hate, rejoice rather than
complain…
Also I have been
learning more about worshipping the Lord with my gifts. Worship is from the
heart. It is our chance to come before the Lord and tell Him how we feel about
Him. It is for Him that we worship, not for ourselves. I play the guitar a
little, sing a little, and write a lot. Since I can’t plug into worship I have
had to use the gifts that typically would remain dormant or handicapped by fear
at best. In doing that though, the Lord has revealed that that is His desire.
To hear His children praise Him with their gifts. To not worry about how it may
sound or if the words are pieced
together in weird ways. He desires our heart… He wants it all and will do
whatever it takes to get them because He aches to be with us. He aches to hear
from us. It took me losing my I-pod to figure all that out. To figure out that
in all things I can Love God and Love others.
And I can honor and worship by Father best by using what He has given
me, and using it well by not burying my gifts but investing them in the Lord,
sharing them with my teammates and my squad, sharing them in my blogs, sharing
them with the nations. It’s all pretty crazy, but it is better than anything I
could have ever imagined asking for.
So
yeah…Please join my Hope by praying for
my i-pod… that whoever has it will encounter the Lord in a mighty way and that
they will share Him with all those they meet and through that God will bless
the nation of Ghana or wherever the I-pod ends up.
