Have you ever planned something to perfection and were so eager and excited to see it come to fruition that you took some relatively bold risks? With this World Race, I have. On many different occasions I saw the possible risks and consequences of my many decisions, and prayed about what I should do. On one of these occasions however, it seemed so obvious to me what the correct path was that it just made sense to go with my gut. This occasion is in regards to the shirts that I am selling that are promoting this trip. And let me tell ya, they are pretty freaking sweet looking.
They come in three different colors!!!
They were designed by my cousins fiancé!!! Thank you Sondra!!
And they have all the countries I am going to on the back!!!!
However, there is a problem. I found out a week ago that I am no longer going to nine of these countries any more, and instead I am now going to nine totally new countries that I wasn’t planning on going to before. This is what I get for assuming. The countries I am now going to are:
Haiti
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
Nicaragua
Guatemala
Thailand
Malaysia
Philippines
South Africa
Botswana
Swaziland
Now these shirts are going to still sell because people aren’t buying the shirts for the countries on the back. No they’re still going to sell because friends, family, and associates are wanting to support me and my ministry, so I am not worried about the fact that nine of the eleven countries are incorrect about where I am going. Yet, I think there is a lesson here on assuming in general. Assuming is a pretty dangerous thing to do in day to day life, and I believe it is even more dangerous when it comes to ministry and God. Going into Training Camp, I was under the impression that there was going to be a certain way that things went and I began to get comfortable and began attempting to see The World Race as MY World Race.
Bill Swan, the director of the World Race, addressed us this past week in Atlanta by cautioning us that “The World Race is not yours and don’t assume that it is. It’s God’s.”
To which I replied under my breath, “Thanks Bill, but come on, I am paying over $16,000 to go on a mission trip where I am literally sacrificing everything that I know, possess, and love. I better have at least a little bit of a claim and right to The World Race that I go on.”
I was assuming I had a right to decide where God was going to lead me. However, I had forgotten that the money I had raised, was not my own and it was money that God had blessed me with through many different donors. I was dead wrong to ever assume that I had any choice in where I went. So as of Saturday of last week (October 12th, 2014), I was involuntarily switched to a totally new route going to totally new countries with completely new people accompanying me.
At first I was beyond upset because all of a sudden, almost every aspect that I had come to know and love of my old route was being stripped from me. The countries I assumed I was going to, the friends I had assumed I would be serving with, and the experiences I assumed would take place, were squashed in front of my very eyes. However now, after a week of processing, praying, and literally having God speak to me, I know this new route is where I need to be.
So what’s the point of this whole blog you ask? The point is that, via assuming, we place God in a box when you and I assume who He is, and how He works. When this happens, we cheapen God and we limit how we see Him. In reality, God is a god who can do great things. Amazing things. In fact, if there are words to truly describe the greatness, glory, and power of God, then I truly do not have them. Not because I don’t want them, but because my mind cannot properly contain the sheer amounts of words created by mankind to describe Him. God is a god who blows past assumptions.
So do yourself a favor. Do not ever assume things with life, or with God. In fact, don’t ever assume anything in general. And when you are making your shirts future Racers, don’t assume you know where you are going and then put those countries on the back of your shirts that youre going to sell. Because as the old saying goes, “You never know what’s comin.”
