I'm currently in the middle of month nine of this thing we call The World Race and I've been learning a few things about seeking the Lord. It sounds kind of bizzar that it's taking this long to learn such an elementary lesson, but I think it's a little more complex than it seems. Once the race becomes your norm, it becomes very easy to sort of punch in the clock when you go into ministry and punch out when you're finished for the day. Even though my environment changes every month, to what might seem unnatural to most people, I've sort of found normalcy in that change. And that sence of normalcy has, at times, led me to fall into the trap of complacency which led to not recieving all that God had for me. I began to blame this lack of the presence of God on the race and took little to no responsability myself. I felt dead; like the the life had been sucked from me. I had to change something and even conteplated leaving the race to sort of avoid addressing the real issue all together.
It didn't hit me what the real issue was until I overheard my teammate Rachel talking about people needing to be spontaneous and live there own lives without depending on and relying on everyone else. She wasn't even talking to me or about me, but in that moment it was as if God himself opened my ears and said "this is you-go and do something you love and do it in my name!"
It was also funny that he said "do it in my name" because another one of my teammates, Matt, had just led a Bible study that was about the name of God and how most Christians just simply call him God even though he has a name, Jehovah, and he even asks us to use it. For whatever reason most English translators like to change it to The Lord in the old testament and it's not uncommon for Christians to not know his name. I happened to be one of those Christians. So when I heard "do it in my name" it was the first time I could do so under his real name, Jehovah, instead of just a title, like God or the Lord. This time I could do so on a more intimate level than before.
After overhearing Rachel, without saying a word, I picked up my guitar and headed for the beach. I just stared back and forth at the ocean and the sky for awhile admiring the beauty of creation. After awhile, I started to write a song. I hadn't wrote a song since month three in South Africa. I hadn't truely sought after Jehovah, in a way that was unique and outside the box, in a long time. The song wasn't really even that detailed or anything, but I was finally feeling his presence.
The moral of this story is simple. Fight for the Lords presence. Whatever that looks like. If you aren't feeling it or you don't think you're experiencing all that He has for you, change something. Think outside of the box and find out what you have to do to experience Him. If you try something and still don't feel inspired or uplifted by him, try something else.
I was going to post the lyrics on here, but I grabbed the wrong journal. I'll try and get them posted within the next day or so.
I would also like to thank everyone who has helped fund me throughout the race. I've been behind on the deadlines and after the last blog I posted you helped raise another $486. I'm currently on a plan with two week deadlines of $500 to help get me caught up with funds and help keep me on the race spreading the gospel to the nations. I've also added the scale at the top of the page to keep you updated on where I am on funds and I will try and keep them updated and accurate. Please prayerfully keep me in mind and consider donating as my next deadline comes up on 9/16. Thanks again everyone!
