*WRITTEN ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19*
Tonight i'm sitting on a rooftop in Nicaragua.
My teammate told us she is leaving the race and going home.
She told us yesterday and tomorrow morning she will leave.
This came as quite a shock.
I felt like the wind hand been knocked right out of me.
She said The Lord was calling her home.
So home is where she will go.
As I try to take it all in, I begin to realize that everything will change because of this decision. Our team dynamic, her calming and kind presence, the love she pours on everyone especially children; all these things will be gone. Chelsea will be gone. How is that God calls people AWAY from the ministry? I don't understand.
The night she told us about her decision, I listened and held my tongue. Near the end of our meeting, I left and went to pray. I prayed for the Lord to help me with my lack of understanding. Why God would do this?
I am incredibly passionate about wasted lives and become incredibly heavy hearted when I feel that someone is turning from the call of God. I felt that Chelsea was throwing away a divine calling. That she was giving up on us and the ministry.
BUT throughout the next 24 hours The Lord has strongly convicted me against my quick judgment of her situation.
Who am I to claim to know the will of God for another person's life?
What a BOLD presupposition.
The Lord has brought a few bible passages to mind about the situation:
1. In John chapter 21, Jesus has told his disciples that someone among them will betray Him. Peter asks Jesus who it is. And Jesus replies "what is that to to thee? Follow me." We are called to FOLLOW JESUS, not to worry about what will happen and what others are doing. We must encourage and uplift the body of Christ, but ultimately we must depend on the Lord to mend situations. I need to focus on my own relationship with the Lord and not look to judge other's relationships with the Lord.
2. In I Kings 17, the Lord calls Elijah to go live by a stream all alone for a YEAR. He tells Elijah that He will provide food and sustain him. How must Elijah have felt? What a waste of a year… But no. The Lord has specific plans that often times we can't understand. People will probably call us crazy. Chelsea's decision to go home sounds crazy to me…
3. Beginning in Acts 12, Barnabas and Paul are on a missionary journey and they bring along John Mark. He travels with them for a time but then leaves them. This act of abandonment leads Paul to write off John Mark. When John Mark comes around again, with the desire to do ministry, Paul doesn't want to partner with him. Paul is so committed to this decision that he splits with Barnabas. They separated because they disagreed so vehemently, but went on to do amazing ministry nonetheless. Through this, God has shown me that there are times when people leave, and there are disagreements within the body, but The Lord bring the conclusion to good. Even when there is confusion and disagreement.
All this to say, I don't have peace about Chelsea's decision to leave, but I absolutely do have peace about what the Lord will work even through the discord and craziness. He WILL be faithful. It's been a whirlwind the last 24 hours.
Please keep Chelsea and our team in your prayers , it will be a hard adjustment for both sides.
