I never thought I would get to the final month of the Race. It always felt so far away, and now it’s here! We are in month 11 and the Race will soon come to an end.
Endings. They are kind of intimidating. When something ends it is over, it can’t be redone, the end is conclusive. There is a finality that comes with it. The end of the Word Race means the end of a season, the end of a year in which I have been challenged and encouraged in ways that I couldn’t have imagined, the end of a year in which I have grown so much personally and spiritually, in my relationship with the Lord.
I realized that I began to associate what the Lord has done in this past year with the World Race, and that’s when I became apprehensive of it’s end. I know that my relationship with the Lord is not contingent on circumstances, that coming on the World Race didn’t magically make certain things happen in my life or in my relationship with the Lord. I know that He is responsible for all goodness that comes to me and that He is not leaving me, but somehow it felt like since the World Race is attached to this season of my life, that when the Race ends, a season of His goodness ends, and that was my looming apprehension of the Race coming to a close.
However, I know that those thoughts and fears were from the enemy and the Lord soon spoke over those lies. My Father did what He does best and redeemed those fears in me with thankfulness and celebration and I heard from Him this truth:
“Celebrate, Allison. The World Race is ending, yes but this is the end of one season and the start of another. The end doesn’t mean that everything else is down hill. I have only created good things, My Daughter, and there are good things to come for you. So, CELEBRATE this year in review!! Look back on what I have done in and through you, how far we have come together, how far we have to go, and CELEBRATE that this isn’t the end. I am not done with you, my Daughter. There is more to come!”
Here is the truth, plain and simple: The World Race didn’t change me, Jesus did, He just used this year to do it. Even though the World Race will end there is no end to Him and He will continue to do miraculous things in and through me when I continue to say yes to the things He sets before me. My God is infinite. His work and goodness are not ending, and that brings me so much joy and celebration! So, with the end of this season I look back on the past 11 months and rejoice in what the Lord has done, just as I look forward at the days to come and wait, expectant of His promises!
Confession: I meant to post this blog in the beginning of month 11 while I was on the field in South Korea, but here I am now posting it from America after the Race…oops!! I still wanted to share with you my true thoughts and feelings in the beginning of my last month on the World Race so I’m just sharing them a little late!
