Call me naive but when I was applying for the world race I did not think about any of the hardships I would face. I didn’t once consider that homesickness would be problem or sickness in general. I have been gone for 4 months and already gained 10 pounds – body image is a huge struggle when you’re living with 40 other girls! Point is, although us racers are living across the world in foreign countries, were still living a life where struggle is present. Thankfully the Lord has allowed me to flip my perspective and appreciate the struggles I’ve been through while being away from home. He has also reminded me that I asked for all of it. In applying for the race I remember asking the Lord to provide struggle, and I mean real struggle, so that I could experience some of the things that the people I was serving had experienced. During a one on one with my squad mentor, I was able to fully process how extremely blessed I was to be able to struggle, overcome and scream the name of Jesus on the other side. Some of the struggles I experienced while being on the field have been missing family birthdays, friends birthdays, knowing that while I was in Africa, my family was going through a rough patch and I wasn’t able to be there, judgment for the things the Lord was prompting me to share. I struggled in Nepal big time with sickness and spiritual warfare (a blog on Nepal is coming soon!!) Homesickness has been a struggle for me since the beginning. The good thing about all of this is that with a little change of perspective, its all good, its all God glorifying if you let it be. I get to miss my family because the Lord has blessed me enough to gift me with a family worth missing. I got sick so many times because the Lord just wanted to show me how to rest. My family struggled because our God is good enough to provide breakthrough and comfort. I was persecuted because of the work the Lord was doing in me, such a blessing. My sweet friends and family are growing in age and in faith and intimacy with the Father, I get to witness that from across the world! Through all of these struggles the Lord has given me a passion and desire to mentor and disciple others, He has allowed me to start doing that with friends and family members back at home who are going through tough times. Without experiencing these things, I never would’ve learned about the gift I have to mentor others. Jesus has blessed me by showing me how important struggle is in growing in faith and trust in Him. Hand in hand, Jesus and I walked through each and every one of these things and every time He claimed victory and I claimed freedom. So much growth has happened because of little bumps in the road and Abba has shown me that no struggle is bigger than Him. I hope all of you use that as encouragement the next time you encounter a bump, just know that our creator is bigger than all of it.
Jesus you offer blessings in the struggle, thank you.
With love,
Lucy Jackson
