I feel that now I can say with absolute certainty that life
on the race isn’t as glamorous as you believe it to be at sign up. It’s like… “YAH, I am backpacking
through 11 countries in 11 months to live off of nothing and serve the Lord,
how cool is THAT!” But in
actuality it’s more like, “I’m backpacking for an entire 11 months, leaving the
comforts of my home and everything I’ve ever known to live in uncertainty as
the Lord stretches me beyond my breaking point.” Coming into the race, I definitely expected long travel
days, cold showers, a sore back, and smelly feet, but no expectations could
prepare me for what this journey entails.
I’m only one week in and I’m certain I have my work cut out for me. From day 1, it has been a
struggle. I hit the ground running
as I tried to reach my launch destination on January 2. I was assigned to be the team check-in
person in NYC, so I scheduled my flight early that morning. My plane was to take off at 10:59am,
but never left the tarmac. There
was an engine problem. What was a
hopeful 3-hour delay devastatingly turned into a flight cancelation. Not only that, but all flights for the
remainder of the day were booked with no hope in sight. As my stomach churned at the thought of
missing my flight to India, I prayed for peace and guidance. I told the Lord, “If you want me to go
minister to your people in India, if you have truly called me to this race,
please get me to NY tonight.” My
instinct in this moment would be to curl up in a ball on the floor and cry or
stream and yell at someone until I got my way (like many of the other
passengers did), but I refrained and decided to trust that the Lord would open
an avenue. To make a long story
short, I was able to find a flight through American Airlines to arrive in NYC
at 6pm-the only problem: the flight went to the wrong airport. From there, it was over an hour before
I could find a shuttle to take me to JFK airport, where I finally united with
my squad. It was long, and very stressful, but God came through for me that
day. I believe much of the race is
going to be just like this-you can only be so prepared for the unexpected. I believe every struggle is an
avenue for a teaching moment. If
we open our hearts and minds to learning and growing through an experience, we
allow God to mold us into the men and women He created us to be. I’ve come to realize a few things since
the beginning of this journey:
1. The
enemy will be at work trying to prevent us from doing God’s work continuously this
year
2. Although the enemy is at work, Our God is the supremacy. The enemy might be able to stand against me,
but he certainly can’t stand against my God.
3. When we put our circumstances into God’s
hands rather than trying to work off our human efforts, thing will come
together as God has intended-in HIS time.
Sometimes we miss the blessings of God by focusing on our own agenda
rather than submitting to His plan.
“Our God is greater, our God is stronger, our God is higher
than any other. Our God is healer,
awesome in power, OUR GOD. And if
our God is for us, then who can be against us?”
