Shit happens. Being on the race I’ve found that people back home can inadvertently over-glorify the journey that we’re on. But the fact of the matter is that this 11 month, around the world journey is still life. And shit still happens just as it did and does at home.
Family members pass away, squad mates go home, people get under your skin, you feel misunderstood, and, probably worst but most frequent of all, you can feel forgotten and unseen by God. All this while trying to internally process the external atrocities you witness on a day to day basis.
This season of my race has produced a revelatory lesson from my Father-
Pain often results from detachment from Him, not from the circumstances we face.
Whether I’m feeling good or bad, high or low, energized or drained, elated or in despair, His whisper in my heart remains the same; Come, let us run together. Come, find me…right here. Rejecting this invitation has repeatedly led to inner turmoil and heartache. When I decide to live in Him, however, I face life with a renewed sense of hope.
It’s easy to lose optimism in tough times, especially when you walk through them for nine straight months. It’s also easy to see how truly faithful the Lord is; how time and time again He holds true to His promises for those who abide in Him. On the especially hard days, He reminds me that hope that is seen is not hope. The work He is doing is so much bigger than anything you or I could dream of or hope for, and I’m honored that He allows me to be a tiny little part of His plan. When we really intimately desire to know Him, He encourages us to hope for what the world sees as impossible.
To say I’m feeling tired is an understatement. There is no way that I would have made it here, to the Dominican Republic, to month 9 of my race, or to this point of my spiritual walk without fully depending on His strength. By acknowledging who He is instead of what I’m not, these last 3 months are not only doable, they’re conquerable.
Proverbs 27:6 says
A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb,
but to a hungry soul everything bitter is sweet.
Keeping alive my hunger for him keeps this sometimes bitter journey oh so sweet.
