For a while, I thought the World Race was going to be similar to other things I’ve experienced in my life. Let me explain. I took a gap year right after high school and it was really really hard. BUT Jesus being well, Jesus, of course, used it for good and I ended up learning a lot and relied on Him more than I ever had in my entire life. I wouldn’t trade that year of my life for ANYTHING and when I first applied for the race I thought that’s how it was going to be too, really hard but in the end, worth it. But then I had this realization that that’s well one, dumb, and two, stupid. I realized that this doesn’t have to be the hardest 11 months of my life. I don’t have to be miserable to rely on Jesus. Why can’t this be the BEST 11 months of my entire life?
Listen, if I said that to a World Race alumni, they would probably laugh in my face and tell me IT’S GOING TO BE HARD. Okay sure, I know for a fact that there are going to be hard moments and some really hard days, but here’s what I know…our words and beliefs have a lot of power. If I go around saying it’s going to be the hardest 11 months of my life, then gosh darn IT’S GOING TO BE THE HARDEST 11 MONTHS OF MY LIFE. If I wake up and think…Ugh, it’s going to be another hard day, then IT’S GOING TO BE ANOTHER HARD DAY. What you believe and speak is incredibly powerful. If I say this is going to be the hardest 11 months of my life, it’s probably because I have wrong thinking, and if I have wrong thinking, it’s probably because I have some wrong believing. If I’m fearful and worried, I’m living as if I don’t have a good Shepard who only leads me to good places, who protects me and lovingly watches over me.
When I was a senior in high school I was extremely insecure. SO insecure to the point that I didn’t want to show up to my own twin brother’s graduation party because the last thing I wanted was to be seen. But of course, I was forced to go and I remember looking in the mirror before walking out the door and I said, “Thank you, Jesus, for making me feel beautiful”. Now, I didn’t believe I was beautiful but for some reason, I decided to thank Jesus for making me feel beautiful anyway. I remember walking into that party and for the first time in my life, I genuinely felt beautiful. You see, Jesus didn’t snap His finger and I looked different, therefore felt beautiful. No, I looked the same but my belief changed. I realized that Jesus loves me enough to show me that He wants me to see what He sees every time He looks at me. I thanked Him for making me feel beautiful BEFORE I actually felt beautiful. I spoke what I wanted to see and THEN I saw it.
I realized from that day on that our words and beliefs hold an immense amount of power. When God saw darkness covering the earth, did He go by what He saw and say “oh gosh it’s dark!” Nope, he said, “Let there be light” and there was light. We can also call into existence the good things that we want to see because we are made in God’s image. We can speak what we want to see and you know what? I don’t want this to just be another one of those things I do with my life where I’m continuing to wait for the next big thing. I want to be so captivated where I am, that I don’t have time to think about tomorrow. I want to experience a joy that I don’t even know exist yet. Why does hard have to be the new normal? Is it really that crazy to believe that Jesus loves me enough to make this the greatest year of my life, full of a crazy amount of joy, all the time?
So here’s to speaking what I want to see, not out of oblivion but out of FAITH and expectant of GOOD. Here’s to praying FROM victory, not for victory. Here’s to the greatest year of my entire life, because Jesus really is THAT good and I really am THAT loved.
