In case I haven’t mentioned this before, I am a planner. And not only that, I am a stresser and so SO impatient at times. So when my foolish plans do not go the way I want them to or at the pace I intended, I get a little geeked out. Enter the World Race.
I have been accepted to the Race for awhile now and I initially hit the ground running with support raising. I was so excited and I knew the Lord called me to this so I knew He would fund this. In all of my planning, however, I forgot this one minute detail. God’s timing isn’t always the same thing as MY timing. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” 2 Peter 3:8. Even in knowing this (and often forgetting it), I still manage to work myself up in to a tizzy when things end up dragging a little behind where I plan them to be.
These past few weeks have been a struggle to say the least. I have watched a lot of those around me find success almost effortlessly (I know that’s not reality but Satan can be convincing) while it feels like every thing I have been doing has yielded nothing. Last week in particular a few close friends asked me about my support raising and I expressed to them how stressed I was and how much I wanted to make things happen now, that way I could be at ease. The more I talked, the more worked up I became until eventually I was very upset.
Working in a restaurant I get the chance to network with many different kinds of people. Countless times a week people ask about who I am and when they find out I’m a senior in college of course the huge question is “What’s next?!” I’ve gotten used to people wishing me luck or giving me concerned smiles and warnings when I tell them about the World Race. This Friday was not such a night. I got to talking with a husband and wife while their children played at a table next to them and we got to talking about the Race. After a few minutes, I had to get back to working. When I returned to the table with a to-go box and their bill, the wife handed me a 100 dollar bill to put towards my trip and shared with me about her time in Campus Crusaders in college. Y’all, I’m not even kidding when I say I started crying. I told them about how disheartened I had been and about how much I had been praying for direction and they told me they would pray for me, and for my squad, and that they knew it was the right thing to do with the money. How awesome is God for that!
Last year when I applied for Fuge, one of the questions on the application is “What is one thing God is working on in your life right now?” and I regretfully put patience. Ever since, if there is a chance He can make me wait for something, He will. This is a glowing illustration of that answer coming to life. I have been impatient in my support raising and I have been jealous. On Friday evening God took a seemingly normal shift at work and completely used it as an opportunity for His glory. I cannot even begin to express how much good that whole situation did for my soul and how much I appreciate those sweet people. The encounter with that family has by far been the one that has caught me the most off guard and truly touched my heart. I know that was a little affirmation from God in a time I really needed it.
Thank You, God, for the sweet reminders to trust Your timing above my own. Thank You for having faith in me even when I act faithless.
Love always,
Katie
