So they tell us that abandonment is part of this world race process. That sounds hard listening to someone talk about it, but it doesn't prepare you for what it's going to feel like. In recent months I've left my job, my home, my friends, and today I left behind my family. I've had a roller coaster of emotions, particularly this last week. I'm sad at what I've lost but at the same time I know I'm gaining something so much greater- a deeper understanding of what it means to follow Christ. Jesus himself tells us in Matthew 16:24-25 "Then Jesus said to his disciples, ' whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it'."
So in this process of letting go I'm holding on too. I'm holding on to the promises of Jesus. The promise that He calls us into the world to share the gospel and the countless ways He sent me confirmations that the world race is what that would look like for me. I'm holding on to the promise that He will never leave me or forsake me. I'm holding on to the promise that as I give up the aspects of my current life I will find a life so much richer in His love and grace. I once heard in a sermon that if you are holding onto too much junk in your life that isn't God's will for you, well then your hands are full and you can't receive what the Father really wants to give you.
So my hands are open Lord. My heart is open. My mind is ready. 11 countries in 11 months- an opportunity that blows my mind God entrusted me with. I've let go of the familiar things of home, I'm ready to hold on to nothing but Jesus and have the most grand adventure of my life. May all glory be Yours God!
Letting go sure feels good 🙂
