It had been 3 years since I’d taken a cold shower, that is until today. I sound like a spoiled brat just admitting that.
The last time I was forced to take a cold shower, I was told that I should never go on any kind of mission trip because I just wouldn’t survive. Now, 3 years later, I’m preparing to head off onto this crazy journey called the World Race for 11 months…with COLD SHOWERS!
So to prove to myself that I could indeed do this, into the cold shower I went. CRAP! That was soooo much colder than I was expecting. In a matter of 5 seconds I came face to face with a shocking reality: I can’t do this alone, and none of the things I’ve been worrying about matter. God has to be in control because He is absolutely the only way I will get through this! I won’t even try to worry about my funds for this trip anymore because no matter how much I try and try to raise all the funds, if I keep thinking I’m in charge of raising it or not, I will fail. God is the one orchestrating this Race and my funds. His idea, He will supply. We need only to have faith that He will do just that. Matthew 6:25-34 clearly tells us all about that.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
As I’ve been reading the book Kingdom Journeys by Seth Barnes (Get it, Read it, and be Blessed!) God has been using it to transforming my heart and mind day by day. This book has me looking at my life and ministry in general in a whole new perspective. If you are planning on going on a kingdom journey like the World Race or any other journey for that matter, don’t get caught up in feeling overwhelmed by the amount of “things” you think you need for your journey. It really comes down to you and God. You could go on your trip with everything you thought you needed and you might still feel like you could use something else. Or you could go on your trip with only what you already have, trusting God that He will provide and be just fine. It’s not about the things you take on your journey but the journey itself.
I also realized in that moment, standing in freezing cold water, that I didn’t give a crap about razors or conditioner, matter of fact I didn’t care if I never showered this whole trip at all! And for anyone who knows me, you know that I’m all about cleanliness bein next to godliness.
I said all that to say this: by putting yourself in stretching, uncomfortable situations (like taking a cold shower), you allow God to show you what is really important and what is not. You don’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to have it all together, He will take you just the way you are and transform you along the way.
