April 4, 2017 Thursday
We arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia late Monday night. We made quite an entry as fifty of us struggled to walk through cramped China Town with our backpacks and day packs strapped onto us, following over twenty-four hours of traveling, and sweat dripping down our clothes from the humidity. At least we can say that we provided the shopkeepers entertained, judging by the photos and videos people were taking of us.
We’re ending our time of debrief and rest and about to enter into what the World Race refers to as “Ask the Lord”. This means that instead of having a scheduled ministry contact, and scheduled hostel to stay at, we seek God’s guidance as a team and ask Him what we should do and where to go.
Upon first thought, this may seem unorganized or even reckless. Being a planner myself, it’s a foreign mindset of mine to not have a schedule laid out for the week and instead trust that we’ll hear from God. But He has been teaching me to trust Him.
Trust is something that starts with small things, and then snowballs into bigger things. Since leaving the USA God has been showing me parts of myself that I didn’t know were there, and He specifically showed me a struggle I have which I wasn’t aware of: I don’t fully trust Him.
Mathew 6:25-35 says not to worry about your life, what you will eat, drink or the clothes you wear. It says to seek first the kingdom of heaven, because God will provide for you. But what does that mean exactly? I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve had to worry about what to eat, drink, wear, or lay my head at night. I’ve never had a need that I couldn’t meet myself, but lately that’s been changing.
I remember one day in Madagascar when we were asked to go speak to the youth at church one Sunday. The church was over two hours away and we’d have to leave the compound before the time that breakfast was served. It sounds small, but if we didn’t eat breakfast that meant we’d go throughout the entire day without food. It was so early in the morning that the local bakery wasn’t open yet, so we couldn’t even buy breakfast. My first thought wasn’t to ask God to provide, but rather it was try to figure out a way I could provide for myself. When we woke up that morning and were greeted with a table of food set up by our hosts and I immediately felt convicted. God was going to provide all along.
“How can I provide if there’s not a need?” God said to me. “Don’t be surprised when you find yourself in situations where you have a need that you can’t meet yourself, seek first My kingdom above all else and let Me provide for you.”
It’s no coincidence that God began to teach me this in Madagascar, and now He’s called my team and me to a month where we have to ask Him to meet all of our needs. We have to ask Him where to stay, who to speak with, and what ministry looks like daily.
Ask the Lord isn’t a World Race practice, it’s is a lifestyle that should be cultivated and lived out day to day. Nobody on my team had the money to commit to an eleven month mission trip, but each of us were called and each of us were financially provided for. To seek first God’s kingdom, even if this means you find yourself in situations where you need provision, is something that should be lived out all over world and in every season of a Christian’s life.
I don’t have it figured out… I’m still in the process of living out seeking God’s kingdom first and foremost. I’m still learning to trust that He’ll provide when I can’t provide for myself. But I’m willing to learn, and watch God move.
