Yep, you read the title right. I’m giving up the World Race.
The World Race is a great opportunity to serve God, His people, and His Kingdom.
It’s also a great opportunity to travel, to facilitate personal and spiritual growth, to try new foods and experiences, and to meet new people.
When I was deciding whether or not I was going to do the World Race I would love to say the thing that most attracted me was the first option. I would love to tell you my primary motivation for coming on the World Race was to serve God.
I would be lying.
I was much more interested in traveling and growing in my knowledge of God than I was in serving God. Which isn’t to say I didn’t want to serve God. It would be silly to go on a mission trip if you didn’t want to serve God. But service to the Kingdom was not at the top of my priority list.
So for the first few months I viewed our scheduled ministry as something to complete quickly so I could go see something cool around town or read a book to help me learn more about God.
For the first part of this Race I wanted to know about God more than I wanted to know Him.
Last month in Vietnam I found myself frustrated every time I had to put down a book or stop journaling to go to ministry. I knew something wasn’t right but I wasn’t sure what yet. Then God began to speak to me.
I know you. I want you to know me. I want you to be able to call me Father. I want you to call me friend.
God wants us to truly know Him, not just about Him. God wants us to know Him so we can love Him. And love always happens through connection. Love is exchanged when the deepest part of our spirit connects with the deepest part of someone else’s spirit. That requires knowing the other person.
Knowing God is not some spiritual achievement or objective knowledge to be grasped.
We should seek to know God so the deepest part of our spirit can connect with His Spirit and we can exchange love with our Creator.
“So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him “Abba Father.” For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:15-16
His Spirit has joined with ours to affirm that we are God’s children!
And how much does an earthly father love his child? How much more does God love us?
As we get to know God better, we also get to know His Spirit better. And the better we know His Spirit, the easier it is for us to hear Him say, “I love you my precious son. I love you my beloved daughter.”
God has slowly been showing me how I started the Race wanting to know more about Him and how He really wants me to know more of Him.
So I began to shift my perspective so I could begin to know God better, and not just know more about Him. And as I have He has shown me how my priorities were all about me. How I could grow, the things I could see, the cool stories I could have, and the cool people I could meet.
So I’ll say it again. I’m giving up the World Race. I’m giving up the control I’ve held so tightly to, the expectations I had for what it should look like, and the selfish desire to elevate my personal growth above the growth of the Kingdom of God.
I’m giving up the World Race. But it’s okay, I’m giving it up to God.
