As launch quickly approaches, I am continually asked two questions:
Are you ready, and are you excited?
These questions seem so simple, yet evoke so much thought. Daily they leave me unsettled while I seek to answer them. I ask myself, “Am I excited for the race?”
Quickly, I can reply, “Well, Yes! Of course! I am going to 11 different countries in 11 months. I get to see God’s nations and people. I get to learn and grow. He is gifting me with my dream to be apart of what He is doing in the World. I have the opportunity to understand His heart and creation even more; of course! I am excited. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to do the World Race…
However,
I also am nervous and scared.
I mean, it is a lot, for I am leaving a lot. I am saying goodbye to many people and things. I am going to travel the world and do ministry with people I don’t even really know yet. I am giving up my bed for a tent. I am transitioning into the unknown and it seems like it all could be really risky. I think I am scared…”
I struggle to answer this simple question of “am I excited?” It becomes this grueling process of ambivalence and doubt and if I am not careful turns to numbness. I begin to loose my heart and hope, in everything; then, I remember Christ.
I remember His calling on my life and His faithfulness. I remember who God is and I remember nothing I do is risky under His will, because He is faithful to His word. Leaving home to travel the world for a year is not risky or scary because my salvation is secure, my God is my protector, and He is with me.
God is with all of us!
John 10:28-29 reads, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
Exodus 33:14 reads, “And he said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.'”
Isaiah 7:14 reads, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (God with us).”
And finally, Psalm 91:2 reads, “I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.’”
I pray that we can all look to our lives and know these truths!
Yes, I am going on a year long, crazy, adventurous mission trip and I am excited, but know, the excitement is a result of me trusting Him. I know what He has spoken and I believe it; fear comes when we forget who He is and who we are. Lets cling to who He is, so we can be used by Him. Don’t waste your lives friends in being afraid…there is nothing to fear! We are secure in Him; we have eternity!
So,
Am I excited?
Yes!
Am I ready?
Well, who knows about that! I feel that may be another blog post for another evening. Yet, I did read an old quote today that I wrote down last year, and I think I will leave you all with it:
Ready is a lie
& it steals
all your hopes & dreams.
& it paralyzes
your feet from moving.
& it cripples
your heart from believing life is most beautiful when living in the unknown.
Don’t be ready,
Be free.
Ready is for people who trust in themselves,
Who want to live small & safe lives.
Freedom is for people who trust in the One who made them,
Who want to live lives too big to be ready for.
God Bless
