Dear Future World Racers,
Some of you have already been to training camp, some of you still probably don’t know you are future Racers, and some of you have just signed up and had a rush of friend requests the next time you signed onto Facebook.
It may not seem like it now, but those friend requests will become your family.
It may not seem like it now, but those friend requests will change your life.
It may not seem like it now, but before you know it you will be sitting in a hostel in Nepal about to go into your last month of your Race.
And in that moment, you will look back at your journey with these crazy people you now call family.
And it is my hope and my prayer to you that you will look back with no regrets.
As a fairly new Christian (about 2 years), the amount of comparison that takes place in Christian communities is shocking to me. We all recite scripture and assure each other that we were all made uniquely in God’s image.
Uniquely…
I’m not the wisest person roaming this Earth, but to me to compare yourself to someone who was made just as uniquely as you are seems to be a waste of time.
Any good qualities we envy in each other have come straight from God. So why not compare yourself to Him? Why not strive to be more like Him?
Don’t waste your time comparing yourself to your squad. I can guarantee each of you are from different backgrounds, families, churches, schools…
But the beautiful thing about the Race is God carefully picks a group of 50 strangers, and molds them together into a family. You have a lot to learn from these people. I came into this trip knowing there was an end. I knew the goodbyes would be inevitable. I didn’t know that I would come out of this trip with new best friends, and even more than that… a new family.
Skip the comparison, skip the insecurities. It’s not worth it. Eleven months is nothing. It will be over before you know it.
My own squad inspired me to write this at the beginning of this month. Learn from my/our mistakes:
There is a weight on my chest…
It’s not guilt, sorrow or even the hand of the
enemy,
but it’s the weight of others’ opinions I allow to rest
on me.
I’m tired.
But I’ll lean not on my own understanding,
I’ll lean on the wall of insecurity I’ve built
around me.
And Lord, I know my life is in your hands,
But I continue to put my worth in the person
beside me.
Confident on the outside.
But on the inside I wait for someone to affirm me or…
for someone to reject me.
Rejection.
A shallow fear with deep consequences.
If Jesus had that fear, would He have followed through with His life
sentence?
How can the stone the builders rejected
be the only one by whom I am truly accepted?
The weight is lifted, but doesn’t disappear.
The cross is now heavy with my insecurity and fear.
We share God’s love and acceptance with the nations,
but God has just given me a new revelation:
We have two more months to bring the Kingdom to each other.
We must stand up and fight for our sisters and brothers.
We are told to walk in freedom,
and yet hide behind our chains.
My heart breaks for the squad,
I’m begging God for some change.
