I arrived in Brisbane, Australia yesterday and 19 of us are currently camping out at Byron Bay in our tents. There are massive ants with pincers, dinosaur-like flies, and a small snake that jumped out from the sidewalk to welcome us (don‘t worry, it wasn‘t dangerous, just a surprise). This is a hippie’s paradise with the most unpredictable weather, burning hot one afternoon and raining that evening. Although the culture is very new to me, the greatest adjustment for me is that it is a world without time. Without a working phone, a lack of internet access, and no watch, my team and I have been living our days with the rising and setting of the sun. There is no deadline here, in fact, we are still trying to figure out what we will be doing with YWAM (Youth with a Mission).
Moving from a fast-paced results driven environment to one of the most “chill axed” places I’ve ever experienced has required constant reminders from my team to simply slow down and go with the flow. I’m not drowning, but able to swim ahead in the pool of uncertainty because of my teammates, supporters like you, and God. I long to transform from a controlling, worrying individual to a more trusting person. I worry because inside I secretly believe that God could be withholding the best from me because of former failures where I felt as if God had let me down. If I was in control and failed, I could only blame myself, but if I trusted in God for something bigger than myself, I didn’t want to believe that God could fail me. I didn’t want to ruin my witness of God “in case” God didn’t give me success. Who would want to trust in a God that would fail them? As it’s been said, people that don’t follow Jesus are afraid to talked to God in case He shows up while Christians are afraid to pray and step out in faith because they are afraid that God won’t show up.
Following God isn’t about a matter of failure. Following God does not guaranteed success in your goals. It isn’t about an escape from suffering, pain, or a loss of face. It’s about living a life that’s invigorating, meaningful, bold, adventurous, and believing the best for yourself and others. He is a friend and Father who is always with me in joys and suffering, success and failures. As Erwin McManus has said in the pod cast “Expect”, the pessimist are the ones that have an accurate view of the world as it is in the moment, but the optimists are the ones that take what is impossible in the moment and creates the possibilities for the future.
