It’s been 4 amazing days since I landed in the Dominican Republic. I flew from Atlanta, GA, where I launched for the world race, and flew to Punta Cana, a seven-hour bus ride from my home in the Dominican Republic for the month. As I was about to land, I was floating through the air, approaching the beautiful island. I caught a bird’s eye view of the ocean. Just the water, nothing surrounding it. It astonished me that even the small bumps and creases on the surface of the water seemed to move like clouds. They held a certain shape and you couldn’t tell they had changed unless you watched for a while. It was strange to me that water seemed to take so long to move. Maybe I’ve never watched the ocean long enough, but it seemed like change would be fast and visible.
I have the privilege of tutoring my ministry host’s daughter for the month in all her school work. Today, we studied the ocean’s currents and tides: how the water moves, changes, and impacts the environment around it. It sustains life, can cause damage, can be a home, or can take away one.
We are so similar. Our lives run really deep. Imagine how long it would take to sort through everything that makes you you. There would be millions of memories, habits, traits, mannerisms, people, hurts, and triumphs that make up all you are. Honestly, you wouldn’t be able to go back through everything. During the few days that I was in Georgia for launch, a speaker used the theory that an object in motion stays in motion and an object at rest stays at rest. The phrase “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” comes to mind. I think we all use this excuse from time to time no matter how old we are. People like to continue doing what they have been doing, and they love routine. We can also be lazy, ignorant, and addicted to comfort. It takes a lot to change someone. It takes something big and drastic. I’ve had people change me, circumstances, events and even time change me. But when the magic really happens is when God orchestrates all these things together to make me into something radiant and beautiful: something I wouldn’t have become by chance.
The catch. You have to be willing to let Him. Sometimes when change happens, it hurts and requires sacrifice. I landed in the DR expecting to instantly feel holier, and I thought it would be so much easier to hear God speak. But it still takes a lot of effort, diligence, and patience. Changing my location, saying goodbye to my community, and entering new, strange surroundings may prompt the shift and change in my life, but they aren’t powerful enough to create a good and purposeful change in me. I have deep, strong currents in my heart that impact the way I see the Lord and experience Him. The major currents in the world span the distance between continents. The currents in my life feel like that, but the hope I have is that God can stop, reverse, and perfect them in me. He promised He would finish what he began and complete a good work in me. Once the currents and tides in my life have been changed by the Creator of the world, I can shape my surroundings, be a vessel for the Lord’s love and joy, and be a source of life. Sometimes it just takes time.
