In a short 3 days, I’ll be leaving my home in Maryland to meet my squad in Atlanta, GA for a few days of final training. Then on Tuesday September 9th, we’ll arrive in Haiti to work with Mission of Hope in Port Au Prince!!
Am I ready for the World Race?
Well, the clothes, meds, and gear spread all across my bedroom floor say heck no. Saying goodbye to family and friends whom I love dearly sure makes leaving for a year difficult to do. And knowing I’ll be living out of a backpack, working in ministry fields that I have little or no experience in, and will be surrounded by cultures and languages that I am unfamiliar with also makes me think I could never be ready for this World Race adventure.
However, I am SO excited and I know God has been preparing me for this for a long time. He’s been building me up, working on my heart, and teaching me important lessons even when I haven’t realized it. God knows what I need and He knows what is to come and He provides.
This summer I’ve been going through Beth Moore’s 10 week study on King David: “Seeking a Heart Like His”. David was a young ordinary shepherd when God chose him to be king of Israel and sent the prophet Samuel to anoint him as King Saul’s successor. David was the youngest of Jesse’s sons and the least likely choice for king. How could a little shepherd be equipped to be a king? However God saw the bigger picture. He saw David’s heart of worship and obedience and He knew the benefit of David’s shepherding experience. He took David away from his sheep to use his skills to shepherd His people of Israel instead. Like David, God has given me skills and experiences that He wants me to use and develop this year, whether I see their benefit now or not.
David’s story continues with the well-known event of David and Goliath, where the young, meek David battles and defeats a 9-foot-tall armored Philistine warrior. David could have listened to the criticism and doubt from his family and other people, but He chose to trust God to protect, strengthen, and provide for Him. David says confidently, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of a lion and the paw of a bear will rescue me from the hand of the Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37). Instead of measuring the size of his obstacle against his own strength and ability, David measured the size of his obstacle against the size of God. David said to Goliath, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of The Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (1 Samuel 17:45). Lord, help me to always see You as my most valuable weapon and to trust in the victory that You bring.
Before David actually took the throne, he spent a majority of his life running away from enemies and avoiding being killed by those out to get him. Some kind of preparation! He was challenged, but God always swooped in at the right time for the rescue.
As Beth Moore says, “We often want to be called of God, then ushered painlessly into a position of service and honor, miraculously possessing the character our callings require. God doesn’t work that way. Our appointments are not about glamour. They’re about glory. God’s glory. God often works the same sequence in us that He worked in David: 1. He calls us. 2. He prepares us. 3. He uses us. 4. He prepares us some more. 5. He uses us some more.”
And she continues, saying, “Painless or painful, enjoyable or distasteful, God always works to prepare us to serve Him, but He rarely prepares us in ways we expect” (pg. 71).
So am I ready?
Well, I’m ready for God to keep making me ready. I’m ready to be surprised by the unexpected. I’m ready to be broken and rebuilt. I’m ready to be developed into who God wants me to be. I’m ready to draw closer to God. I’m ready to see the Holy Spirit move in crazy ways in me and in those I meet. I’m ready to see how God uses me to serve the nations.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
Whether on the World Race or with anything else in life, praise God He doesn’t only use those that are already equipped and best prepared.
