When I packed my bags almost eight months ago, I was excited for a year full of learning. I’m glad I was excited because if you aren’t much on learning, the Race is not your place. While there is a plethora of exciting things to learn on the Race such as how to use a squatty potty or how to sweep leaves with a broom, there are just as many (if not more) hard things to be learned on the mission field that requires more than being a human sponge. They require us to be living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – to not be conformed to the world, but transformed daily by the renewing of our minds. They require discipline, a malleable heart, a deep desire to grow, and a willingness to surrender e v e r y t h i n g.
While there are so many things I’ve learned and grown in, I’ll keep it simple and share three that were most crucial for me to understand personally:
- My life is not my own.
I know this. You know this. But when it really comes down to it, it can be a hard pill to swallow. As humans, we crave control. So, we make plans based on what we want to do.
The World Race was not on my radar to begin with. At all. I had full intentions of starting college this fall and pursuing medicine. God had a different (+ better) plan though, and it took me realizing that my life really is not my own to step into it.
It didn’t stop there though. This has been something The Lord has had to teach me in some form everyday from pausing my agenda and listening to someone’s heart to allowing The Lord to redirect all of my future plans and so much more. It’s caused me to have to lay down pride and remind myself that I am but a servant of The One True King. I can’t take another breath on my own. I can’t create anything from dust. I can’t see the big picture. So, I owe my life, my entire being, to My Father in Heaven who can. My life is not my own – it’s His + for His glory.
- There’s always more.
A few days ago I woke up and asked The Lord where in Scripture He wanted time to read. He told me to read Jeremiah.
He had taken me there previously and showed me something very clearly, so I told God there was nothing else there. I don’t even have an explanation for why I thought I had any right to tell The Lord that. Not my best move, but He’s still so gracious. He said, “Okay. Open to your tab on your Bible that says ‘promise,’ then.” So I did (not having any clue where I had placed that tab). It was Jeremiah 30. And The Lord spoke clearly yet again, confirming what He had been speaking over me and calling me to trust and stand on His promises.
That’s just one little example, but it’s a reoccurring theme I’ve noticed: just when I think I have something figured out or have gone as deep as I can, The Lord shows me more. He calls me deeper. And, yes, sometimes that means into the great unknown where my feet and my flesh fail me. But God never does. And I choose to trust + stand on that promise because there’s always more with Him.
- Count it all joy.
The Race has definitely not been all rainbows and butterflies. I’ve experienced rejection more times than I can count, I’ve had hard conversations, I’ve been cat-called, I’ve been laughed at, I’ve been crammed in numerous public buses with strangers who don’t always smell and/or act nicely, I’ve been punched by little kids, and other crazy things. And for why? Why does God call us to things that He knows might cause us to be uncomfortable or experience pain or even be in danger? Why do we go through hard times?
I’m not an expert, and I still wrestle with questions like these sometimes. I definitely don’t have all the answers, but during difficult seasons when things seem hopeless and my heart is hurting and I’m questioning, The Lord has reminded me so gently: “count it all joy.”
This is usually proceeded by me rolling my eyes like “duh” or throwing a little tantrum in my mind like “THIS IS NOT JOYFUL WHAT THE HECK.” Haha. Then I go to Scripture because I am reminded what true joy is and why all this is worth it.
So, here’s some Scriptures that have helped me wrestle through these questions:
“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:7-11)
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) [ps notice it says IN all circumstances not FOR – we don’t give thanks for cancer or heartache because those aren’t of The Lord anyway, but IN the midst of them because God is working for our ultimate good.]
“It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” (Hebrews 12:7-8)
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:1-5)
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4)
So, whether I walk into the kitchen where other people have left their dirty dishes from breakfast and The Lord whispers to my spirit, “wash their dishes” or my heart feels like it got ran over by an eighteen-wheeler, I can count it all joy because I know that these things are allowing me to experience a deeper need for The Father resulting in greater intimacy with Him as well as molding me to look more like Jesus. And, as my dear friend Emma JOY always reminds us: joy is not the absence of pain, but rather the presence of remembering The Lord’s faithfulness.” So, we can count it all joy.
Love in Christ,
Maeci
