Leave the Light On
Upon applying for the World Race, I could hardly wait to leave. Ask any of my close friends or family, and they will tell you that all I talk about is the race (preparing for the race, packing for the race, praying for the race, my squad for the race – you get the picture). While this has not changed, I have been slapped in the face with reality this past week.
In approximately two months I will be leaving for a year. A year. This means I will miss out on so many things here at home. I’ll miss my brother’s last year playing baseball at Wallace State, I’ll miss our annual Friendsgiving, I’ll miss making chocolate-covered everything with my nana at Christmas time, I’ll miss the family trip to the mountains, I’ll miss weekend trips to Arab. I’ll miss engagements, weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries. I’ll miss my friends, my family, and my church. I’ll miss my bed, my hot showers, my bad reality TV shows, and my lazy weekends at the lake. As the reality of ‘missing things’ began to sink in this week, I have had a front row seat on an unending emotional rollercoaster.
As I was journaling tonight and throwing myself a pity party, The Lord graciously reminded me why I chose to pursue applying for the race in the first place. This earth is not my home. This earth, the one that holds so many things I love, is not my home. I was created for a heavenly home, and my goal is to take as many people with me as I can. While I will still miss all the things listed above, they are each things that are worth sacrificing in order to take the good news of Christ to the nations.
I know many of you may be thinking, “Well hey if you stay here in America and do ministry you won’t have to miss any of those things!” and hey, you’re right. However, if I refused to go I would be refusing the call that The Lord has placed on my life.
I was talking to a friend the other day about Peter and Paul. Both men were created to spread the good news of Jesus. One took the good news of Christ to the Jews and the other took the good news to the Gentiles. The lives of these two men illustrate what it means to occupy different parts of the body of Christ. Peter proclaimed the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus among his people (the Jews) while Paul had the same mission but among strangers (the Gentiles).
These men took the Gospel to two totally different groups of people. As individuals from both groups accepted Jesus as their savior, they joined the one body of Christ. They merged from two groups to one, from strangers to brothers. Their identity is no longer “Jew” nor “Gentile”, rather it is now “Child of God”. Peter and Paul had the same purpose, to make Jesus known, no matter where God lead them.
We too have a call on our lives. Some of us are called to our people like Peter, while some are called to the nations like Paul. My squad and I are taking the Gospel to foreign nations, and we are doing so in hopes of adding to the one body of Christ. In the same way, I hope that while you are here in America that you will be like Peter in adding people to the body of Christ.
Galatians 3:26-29 says, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
I am so honored to fulfill my part in adding to the one body. It is truly thanks to The Lord and His provision. My kingdom journey is no more significant than your kingdom journey, so I am praying for boldness as we walk through this season together in declaring the good news of the Gospel like Peter and Paul.
So while I’m away, I ask that you leave the light on.
Don’t forget about me when you pray. I ask that you would continue to pray for my squad and I while we’re away as I’ll be praying for you here – I am praying for all the people you and I will encounter over the next year, and I am asking the Lord to let us be a light in their lives. We are a city on a hilltop (Matthew 5:14), so let’s shine brightly no matter where the Lord takes us.
I hope that my year long mission trip encourages you to be bold. I know that God will use you to pour into those around you in a HUGE way!
