I am literally sitting here at work taking the few seconds I can spare to anxiously type this on my computer, and in the midst of all the phone calls and emails and appointments, all I can think about is The World Race. As my coworkers and boss and the costumers roam around me in a cloud of busyness and consumed by the reality of everyday-errands, my heart is beating for something more. My hope for reality is different then the ordinary person. I want to climb over the fence that surrounds my safe and secured home and go into the world in response to what God has called me to do. As my mind explores the realization that what I dream about, going into the ends of the Earth and proclaiming the Gospel, is going to become my life for 11 months, my heart beats in joy and anticipation for The World Race. I can barely focus I am so overwhelmed! So here I am at work, creating charts, making copies, and counting down the days until I go and embrace the world with the calling God has for me.
But it wasn't always radical surrender and dreams of wild adventures for me. At first, I never really thought of going overseas and giving my life up for a greater call to missions. Before November 22, 2007, I didn't even know God. I was a skeptical agnostic with teenage angst against any "religion" like Christianity. I wasn't sure if there was a god and even if there was, I was certain He was a being who had little to nothing to do with the things He created. I would hear people say that they had a "relationship" with Jesus. A relationship? It just didn't make sense to me. But the more I searched for the truth in life, the more I saw that all the evidence and experience pointed to Jesus Christ. Jesus was the answer I wasn't looking for. Jesus was the only One who could answer my question of purpose and truth in life. So on November 22, 2007, at my local youth group whom I now help serve by preaching and teaching the kids about the Gospel, I gave my life to Christ. And ever since then, my life has changed forever.
I've always wondered if there was something bigger than myself? And this question has become even more relevant for me in my walk with Christ. And the reason why myself and so many out there ponder this question is because there is something bigger then ourselves. God's calling is bigger then anything we could wish upon ourselves. And the more I realize this inevitable truth, the more I see the fact that I need to give everything to God. I must give my life to God, because He can do much more with it then I could ever do. And this bigger picture, bigger reality, bigger calling, doesn't have neighborhood limits and comfortable control. He's called me to loose the comfort and embrace the necessary. He's called me to loose myself and find Him. He's called me to forget staying put but run the race. This feeling, this yearning for my heart to beat passionately for the lost people of the world, to align my heart with God's heart, to proclaim the name of Christ with not just words but with actions, this is why I am going on The World Race. My life means nothing, but to fulfill my ministry in making His will be done and His kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven, all for His honor and His praise and His glory. He calls, He sends, and so I go.
