For those of you who don’t live in Florida or didn’t have the chance to make it out on February 7th I wanted to share with you what I was able to share that day.
I was accepted on the World Race Novemebr 11th which (fun fact) is actually sort of the World Race’s self-proclaimed holiday because it is the 11th day of the 11th month and our little catch phrase is 11 countries in 11 months (that’s a lot of elevens).
I would like to tell you one of the first lessons the Lord taught me as soon as I was accepted on the World Race. I am currently reading through the entire bible chronologically and in November I was just starting the book of Judges. After I had received the call about being official, just a few days later I read through the story of Gideon. I have to pause and smile for a moment because I can’t get over how beautifully God times what we are reading in the scriptures to coincide with our circumstances. I’ll be honest one of the first thoughts that crosses your mind when you begin preparing for the Race is: “How am I going to raise all that money??”
I would like to share with you what God taught me as I connected to what Gideon was going through in Judges 6 (specifically verse 12):
The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.
Friends, let me tell you. Gideon is currently attempting to scrap together some food while hiding in a ditch and you know he has to be thinking, “Man, have you got the wrong guy.” But I really love the note that is right beside this verse in my bible. It says: the Lord sees you for who you are going to be. I tell you, as I looked at this note I could just barely hear God whisper, “I am with you, fully funded missionary.” And I’m sitting there thinking “Lord I’m still getting use to the idea that I’m going on the mission field for 11 months. Now your saying that I shouldn’t worry about the finances of it?” and God’s reply was “Yes. Don’t worry about it. Trust me.”
I took that a little bit as a challenge then, because I said, “Ok God! If your promise to me is that You have called me on the World Race and so you are going to provide the means through my hard work and through touching others lives who will want to invest in my mission then I’m going to live 100 percent according to that promise.” So when I went home for Christmas a month later my parents and I went out and bought my backpack, my tent, and my sleeping bag because to me when God called me to trust Him it meant getting my equipment for the World Race so I could begin training. I realized in this whole process that there were two parts and I shouldn’t try to do God’s part. My part is to obey what the Lord says while His part is to provide the money I need to leave on my mission’s trip.
I would like to continue a little bit further into Gideon’s story. All the way to chapter 7 verse 2:
The Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has delivered me.’ Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
After this entire process that the Lord takes Gideon through, he is down to 300 men verses thousands of Amalekites and Midianites. I couldn’t help but think, “My word. This is how I feel going up against 16,000 dollars while I only know around 200 people to send letters to. I know that not all of them are going to respond, so I’m feeling pretty small here.” And God’s response to me was: I’ve already won the battle. Your going up against a number and I am God almighty who created the entire world.
After this reminder, I kind of reevaluated the letters I had and then thought about all the people who I would have a chance to share my story with. I realized these are the ones the Lord is going to touch to invest in my ministry. My number really is irrelevant because it’s based on who the Lord wants to use, not on how many.
God really was showing me how important trust is and that I needed to start seeing my fundraising through God’s eyes. This means He wins the battles, and I obey His guidance through the process of watching Him work. Because there is no number that is bigger than my God.
As Gideon’s story continues, we really see that the battle was more in his heart than on the field. It was once Gideon realized that God was the one in control that he took his men and marched that very night to war. When he got there, God took care of the rest.
And that, my friends, is how Gideon’s story taught me some really vital lessons at the very beginning of my entire journey. I also know these will carry through onto the mission field. The Lord is the one who wins the battles and I’m so glad He’s on our side.
