“Our faith is built in the dark, in the valleys, and during the back-breaking battles in life.”
– Dana Arcuri
It has been about 7 months since I committed to go on the World Race, and the Lord is continuing to prepare my heart. I started out this journey with excitement and optimism. While I still have those things, I also have developed caution and resilience.
I expected people to react to the World Race with positivity and did not consider that I might get push-back. However, that is exactly what I am facing. People challenge the integrity of my mission and call me selfish and foolish. While it is not my job to change their hearts toward my mission, it is my job to prepare my heart for the battle with the devil. He sees that the Lord is using me to help build The Kingdom and the devil is out to trip me up. But I hear the whispers of the Holy Spirit and I remain BOLD in my call to go and will not let doubt and fear control my heart.
To see this mission as a battle my seem strange and dark, but the Lord calls us to fight for His Kingdom. While I enter the nations to share love and hope, I must stand up against the devil and temptations toward fear. Each time I am faced with a doubter or called foolish, I must fight with the Word as my sword and the Holy Spirit as my shield. As a child we played this game in Sunday school where we held up the Bible by the spine and called them our swords. The teacher would then name a verse and we would each riffle through our good book and try to be the first to find it. I cannot help but imagine myself standing up against devil as my little 8 year old self, with the spin of my Bible in hand.
Want to join the Battle? PLEASE PRAY FOR ME. The devil places fear and doubt in nearly every day I work toward my World Race launch, and some days I fall to his temptations. I need the support of my brothers and sisters to withstand this fight. Some days I am weak; I am not too proud to admit it. I need support, and this is me asking for it plainly.
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard.”
Matthew 10:16-17
