It should have been perfect.
After 3 months of Africa we were moving on to Thailand, one of my favorite countries I have ever been to. Honestly the country I was most excited about when I signed on to this route about a year ago.
This month is also MANistry, where all the men of the squad spend the month together doing ministry at one location. How awesome is that?! Serving the Lord with the brothers who have become like blood to me this year.
We live in Mae Sot, a city right next to the Myanmar (Burma) border. We live above a bike shop and restaurant where we get to serve right along the locals who are learning a skillset by working there.
Our days are filled with teaching English, helping at a children’s home, going to the border of Burma and meeting people or prayer walking, spending time in the Muslim community, playing soccer with the kids and sharing the gospel in surrounding areas. We ride around to all the locations on bicycles like we are 12 year old kids again. We can afford to eat out every meal because a meal costs just over $1!
It’s seems amazing right? It is amazing. So what was my difficulty with the first week here?
You see…the devil is sneaky. He thinks he knows just how and where to pry into our lives and find our weaknesses. He’s pretty dang good at it, he’s had practice.
BUT what the devil cannot overcome is the power of Jesus.
So the devil knew I struggled with pornography for years. He also knows Christ set me free from that struggle while on the World Race.
As I rode my bike down the street I had a flashback to images from my past, images that resembled some of the women I was riding right by. They came out of nowhere and caught me completely off guard. I wasn’t expecting to be attacked like that, in an area where I had so much growth and freedom this year.
So I did the only thing I could do in that moment…I turned to God in prayer. I prayed that those images be removed and never return, I prayed for protection from those kind of attacks and I thanked him for the freedom that he provides.
That night I shared it with my team and had them pray over me, choosing into that ‘vulnerability’ that people always talk about…much like I’m choosing into it by writing this blog.
Maybe some of you have recently felt under attack in certain areas of your life. The truth is the devil is scared…and he should be! He’s desperate. He will claw and fight his way into any crevasse of sin he can find.
We serve a God that is greater. We serve a God that is powerful. We serve a God that brings freedom.
So yes, I was caught off guard one of my first days here. A month with so much potential trying to be unraveled by a devil who’s scared and intimidated…afraid of what the men of C-squad are going to help accomplish this month here in Thailand.
Yet here I stand, telling the world that in my weakness God is strong. That I could turn to my brothers around me and be lifted up and covered in support and prayer. That I know the devil is going to continue to attack in my life but Jesus Christ is greater, more powerful and through him I will overcome.
I stand and declare the power of our savior. Wherever you are…whatever your struggles…join me.
