Have you ever thought about what this country looked like before settlements and villages were built? Before anybody developed the infrastructure as we know it today it was just … land.
I find myself gazing out the car window as I drive down roads and highways trying to envision what pioneers saw when they first arrived. Most charted out territories that are now cities they dreamed about as they walked the land; where crops and livestock once outnumbered humans now sit skyscrapers and apartment complexes housing thousands of people.
And imagine the danger pioneers endured as they inhabited new regions: wild beasts, starvation, harsh climates, raiding forces threatened by their presence.
Yet, in the midst of it all, God handcrafted each one of them for that specific journey, that particular era in history. What I discovered this past week is pioneering is a no-joke-life-or-death-and-most-of-the-time-death kind of living.
But in all honesty, pioneering is exciting and adventurous, rugged and authentic. It was them claiming and investing their lives in the land to bring forth greatness, sowing their tears, blood and sweat to reap a harvest.
Sounds like kingdom living, eh?
I got to thinking about all of this because I visited a teeny-tiny township just across the New York border into Pennsylvania. It was as though Papa translated me back into eighteenth or nineteenth century when people began to settle on American soil. Streams watered the land, livestock roamed about hill slopes and the wintry breeze quieted my spirit as I soaked in the beauty around me. I simply lived in God’s presence and communed with brothers and sisters in Christ.
I sense Jesus stirring up a desire to pioneer with him while on the Race. I’m following Christ into foreign countries to claim territory possessed by the enemy, uproot him and sow the gospel into the hearts of the people I meet. Glorious!
And Abba Father is also pioneering within me as well. He’s leading me into unknown territories of His love and I’m breaking ground with Him in the spirit. He’s uprooting weeds in order to tenderize the soil of my heart for a great harvest. What a joy!
A month from today I fly with my squad to South Africa (or at least that’s the plan as of now .. It’s the World Race, uh, it’s the World Race, uh!) and pioneer the land with Jesus. My heart is settled and at rest in Christ. We’re breaking down strongholds of the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and establishing the kingdom of God wherever we go.
"Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses … No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you" (Joshua 1:3,5).
