The past week has really hit me with the reality of this trip. I am starting to feel separated from those around me and almost…..like a stranger. It seems when one decides to take on something like The World Race, many people can’t wrap their head around it. So they don’t know how to act in front of you. The people who you are very close to, but aren’t believers get silent; leaving you wondering if they support you. It hurts to think that they don’t. Is it silent admiration? Jealousy? Anger? Whatever it is, it isn’t what you would ideally want. Maybe it will just take time for them to adjust to you leaving for 11 months. I guess this is where the human nature steps in. The need to fit in and to please one’s peers. It’s not about that, however, and it just distracts us from our ultimate goal.
I heard a sermon many years ago, and it is one that has stuck with me and sparked my fascination with doves. You see doves have no peripheral vision and thus are always focused on their goal….what is in front of them. For us, this would be focusing on the Lord, without letting the distractions of the world veer us away from him. They also have the amazing ability to find their way home, and so have been used as messengers since ancient times (hence Noah and the Ark). How cool it would be if we could always stay focused on God and always know where the home is that he has made us. The following comes from The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee (yes I quote this book a lot:) ):
You probably know the illustration of Fact, Faith, and Experience walking along the top of the wall. Fact walked steadily
on , turning neither to right nor left and never looking behind. Faith followed, and all went well so long as he kept his eyes
focused upon Fact; but as soon as he became concerned about Experience and turned to see how he was getting on, he
lost his balance and tumbled off the wall, and poor old Experience fell down after him.
I tend to focus on my experiences and use them to make choices today, forgetting that a lot of those experiences weren’t Christ experiences. When we rely on ourselves, Satan is always there ready to take advantage of our vulnerability. We can’t climb the impossible mountains with our experiences alone, but we can conquer them with our Faith in God’s Facts. Nee also summarizes Paul’s words to the Galatians:
Faith is “substantiating” God’s facts; and faith is always the “substantiating” of eternal fact- of something eternally true.
One eternal fact is that God loves us and has a purpose for us. We cannot see that purpose when we are distracted by the people or things around us; and not honed in on God. What does he want from us? What is his eternal truth? I guess it is time to be like a dove and focus on Him as my goal. God’s love, grace, and Word is enough. Focus on His Facts with Faith.
