Dear fellow world racers…
So we have been on this crazy adventure called the World Race for half a year by this point, and my hope and prayer is that as good as the first half was, that God absolutely blows us away with what He has for the second half. I have no doubt that there is more for us: more of Christ, more pouring into and speaking life into each other, more laughter, more freedom. And starting today, we’re gonna claim that and we’re gonna fight for more of Him, together.
Every single one of you, of us, are blessed to be a blessing. I know that because I have gotten to see glimpses of each of your hearts the last six months, and what I have seen are exhibitions of true beauty, and of strength, strength of heart and of character. Sometimes that looks a little messier as God continues to refine us, polish off the rougher edges, but it is a remarkable process nonetheless. As we are blessed with the opportunity to experience the worldwide church, Christ is working through each of us individually to bless each other and to show His love to those around the world.
Whether you are back home with your family and community, or traveling the world with a few dozen others, you can minister to others by just living a life of love and redemption. It will flow out of you when you say yes to God, who first loved you, who says you are worthy. The one who created the trees surrounding us, and the starts above loves YOU. He LOVES you. He said, “Hey, you know that beautiful girl over there? I created her. She’s mine and I would fight to the death for her. You know that man? I am so incredibly proud of him. He is MY son, and he’s a warrior.”
When we know we are truly loved to our core by a loving Father, we feel this incredible freedom to love others freely. The need to hold back out of fear disappears. We are better able to be genuine and selfless. Not the half-assed attempts that we all make out of obligation, because we think we should, but the honest to God, affection for everyone we encounter because we know deep down, we are all the same. We all have the same struggles, fears, desires, hopes, aspirations. We’re all just people trying to figure out this thing called life.
Alright, I want you to think about the people in your life. Do you see Christ in them? I have seen Christ working, and I have seen him working in the lives of every believer. I’ve seen others’ hearts for worship, prayer-warrior spirits, hospitality and warm natures, wisdom, joy and laughter, boldness, empathy, and others’ servant hearts. The beautiful thing is if you go through and take the best traits of each individual, perfect them and add every other good characteristic you can imagine, THAT’S Christ. That’s the character of the God we serve. As much as your community loves you and has your back, God is there for you more than any other person could ever be.. He is proud of you. He has chosen you. He has given you a reason to be hopeful and rejoice, and the opportunity to share that with the nations, and go on a few side adventures while you’re at it.
I had the opportunity to go bungee jumping last month. What better way to end the year than to throw your body plummeting to the earth. Well the twenty four hours leading up to it, I was pretty nervous. I kept hassling my teammate Danica about her experience, looking for reassurance that it was not a terrifying as I was imagining. The night before, I dreamt of it and felt nauseated the whole morning following. When I imagined the moment I would have to decide whether or not to take that plunge, fear would creep in. It would try to tell me that when the moment of truth came, I would not be able to overcome it, but succumb to it.
Well when we arrived, I was pleasantly surprised. They signed us in, harnessed us up (after ensuring we had all emptied our bladders first), and led us to the bridge. The air was filled with so much excitement and enthusiasm. There was upbeat music blasting, and the first song upon our arrival was a gospel song that blared the message, “Praise him!” A few of us kept rocking to the music, trying to get rid of the nervous energy. The exchanges with strangers even felt different, because you all had a common goal and purpose, and that was to look fear in the eye, say screw you, and take the plunge. People that had no other original commonality ended up encouraging each other, cheering for others as they stepped up to take the plunge, and patting each other on the back after stepping out in faith.
Finally, after cheering on so many before you to take the leap of faith, the moment of truth comes. They count down, “Three! Two! One!” Despite all of your good sense telling you it’s insane, you jump, and the whole thing takes your breath away. You feel more alive in that moment than you can remember ever feeling, and you wonder why you had waited so long in the first place. Once the adrenaline settles, and you are hanging out at the bottom just you and God, you are overcome with absolute peace, beauty, and disbelief. The only thing you can take in is the river flowing underneath, his creation beckoning you to come and see, and the love of the father surrounding you.
In a lot of ways, that experience was parallel to our races and our individual walks with Christ. You can hear account after account of how worth it it is to step out in faith, you can see the moment captured of others experiencing the freedom of the freefall, you can see the passion renewed in their eyes and the extra pep in their step, but ultimately hearing about others’ experiences is just not the same. You can have a whole army of people cheering you on at the top, telling you of the adventure that awaits, but every single one of us has to make that decision for ourselves. Are we gonna be content rooting for others and hearing their stories, or are we gonna choose to risk it ourselves, trusting that God is good and will catch us?
I have spent a large majority of my time on the race, and the rest of my life doubting God’s goodness or choosing not to trust Him. Where my response to growing up without a father, or seeing so many abandoned orphans in Swaziland was to question how I could share about the faithfulness of the God I serve, when I wasn’t convinced I believed it myself. I couldn’t see him following through, hadn’t recognized him working miracles in the way I had hoped for, and felt like there was no point in wasting my time and life away, sharing a message half-heartedly and not seeing any results.
Well, thankfully, He is a good shepard and continues to always bring me back home again. He gently reminds me that just because my inconsistent emotions don’t always feel it, doesn’t make His goodness and faithfulness any less true. “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families. He leads forth the prisoners with singing…” Just because the glimpse I see into the lives of orphans and widows and prisoners can seem hopeless, does not mean God has forgotten or forsaken them, or that it’s the end of their story. Just because I might not have my ego stroked by hearing accounts of how I have been used to positively impact peoples’ lives, does NOT mean that God is not working through me. Just because I have not seen a physical disability healed does NOT mean that God is not all powerful. He is both all powerful and all loving and is seen throughout the nations.
Remember the faces of the people you have gotten the opportunity to meet and pray for on this journey. Remember the little hands that tugged on your clothes and on your heartstrings. Remember the mountains and rivers that fly by on travel days. Remember the faces of witch doctors in Nepal, the bright smiles of the village children in India, the opportunity to share a game of soccer with drug dealers, the authentic spontaneous worship of the Swazis and the chorus of praise that filled the room. Remember the lessons God has taught you, the tears and the breakthroughs, the belly laughs, the great Sherbs turtle fall of ’14 (sorry Sherbs!) Remember the accounts of healing from the villages pastors in India. The expressions on the faces of the boys in the juvenile center, and the smiles and goodbyes shouted across the way from the women in the Thai prison.
The last six months might not have looked like you wanted or hoped for, but there is not a person here that can say that God has not shown himself in one way or the other. God has been so good to us this year and it is a year that is well worth celebrating. The lives God has given us, are worth celebrating. The redemption and the hope, the freedom, the continuous renewal and refinement, are worth celebrating. The opportunity to sit here tonight together and say that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ and are here to support and encourage each other is something I didn’t know I wanted til I got it.
This family we have here is strong, beautiful, crazy, and chosen by Christ, and this upcoming year is gonna be one hell of a year. In the words of Anthea, our host last month, “We’re gonna start this year off right: by jumping all in and claiming all God has for us.” We serve a God that has blessed each ones of us so much, and He is worthy to be praised tonight, and tomorrow, and the rest of our lives.
“May the people praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth.” Psalm 67: 3-4
