When we live our lives we live on faith. It doesn’t matter how much we understand what faith is or is not, we still step in faith. What separates many of us from the “faith” the Bible speaks about is that we put our faith in the wrong place. I have walked in faith all my life. I have trusted no-one except myself. I had faith in myself and my plans and ideas. Sounds pretty shallow, eh? Well, it’s true. I trusted my own strength, my own ideas, and my own purpose. I had God in my life, and as much (or as little) as I let him in, I still had an overlying trust in myself and not 100% submission to the Lord’s greater story! I was one of those guys who did things in the “name of Jesus” so I could have fun…funny thing is, because God is so AWESOME, he still used my shallow misunderstandings into a great purposeful tool for himself. Basically put, somehow young men and women still turned to God and became saved using my mouth and life! Imagine what God can do if we pursue His purpose and His methods!
James writes:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
I came on this trip knowing that I wanted to become a stronger man of God. I wanted to see signs and wonders and have to rely on God in all I did. I wanted to jump into an environment I did not understand. I wanted to be challenged. This year I have been challenged in where my loyalty lies. Does it lie in my friends and family back home? Does it lie in my teammates? Or even leaders of my small team or in my squad? Does it lie in the One who has called me out into the wilderness?
Reading James has struck many chords in the past 10 months. I want to become more mature. I want to see the unseen (the Kingdom). I want to know the Lord more intimately than ever before. I wanted to be at the end of what James talks about. But of course I needed to go through the process first. I had to be tested. I had to persevere. I had to walk in 100% FAITH. To be honest I knew I wasn’t fully walking in total faith in God before this trip. That was one reason to jump on this roller coaster ride for me. And so, here I sit at month 10 looking back at the journey I had to endure in order to not only trust myself further (self confidence) but to put my trust in the Lord. To put my FAITH in God!
Here’s a synopsis of my 4th major lesson from the World Race – FAITH!
One year ago I wrote a blog called (This I Believe – You Have to Leap To Know Your on Solid Ground) . I wrote about how the World Race was that leap of faith in my life that I needed to take. I wanted to see how comfortable I truly was by leaving it all behind and pursuing the “lesser”in life. I wanted to let go of the life I was living. I wanted to take that risk of seeing if this idea of “something greater” was true or just an idea. I took the gamble by joining the World Race. And it was everything I had thought it would be. It was a wild ride!
In my first month on the race, a small Peruvian girl started the process of changing my heart. She was that example that Jesus speaks about having faith like a child. You can read that blog, by clicking – (Faith Like A Child). In Matthew 18:3-4, Jesus says, ‘And
he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like
little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore,
whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven”. That means letting go of all logical, humanistic (if that’s a word), and scientific reasoning. It is about letting go. It’s about just plain old lying in the Father’s arms and not worrying about anything. Just resting! Full 100% submission. Being an adult male, it was hard to understand at first. To lay myself down and trust in something I cannot see? But tell ya what, this was a foundation of how God was to speak to me throughout the next 9 months and I’m pretty sure for the rest of my life here on out!
he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like
little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore,
whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven”. That means letting go of all logical, humanistic (if that’s a word), and scientific reasoning. It is about letting go. It’s about just plain old lying in the Father’s arms and not worrying about anything. Just resting! Full 100% submission. Being an adult male, it was hard to understand at first. To lay myself down and trust in something I cannot see? But tell ya what, this was a foundation of how God was to speak to me throughout the next 9 months and I’m pretty sure for the rest of my life here on out!
Prayer is something I honestly had a warped perspective about. What I mean is that I did pray, but for many reasons not what I now understand the Lord to be asking me to pray about. I prayed selfish prayers! I prayed for things I thought I needed, I wanted, or what I felt needed was important. (Of course this is all part of maturing, so I don’t condemn myself) This year I learned what it meant to pray in faith. To pray for signs and wonders. To pray for healing and guidance. To pray for what was on the Lord’s heart. And not feeling frustrated when my prayers “weren’t answered”. In Bolivia, 3 of us men of God sat down with a hurting sister of ours. She was ill with a severe earache and all we knew we could do was to pray. To fight. To fight by praying for HER. And so in an evening of constant battling, she was healed. To read that blog click here – (We Prayed). Now did God need us to heal her? Of course not! But he chose us and we listened to His voice as he led us to pursue HIM. We saw her healed before our eyes and the Lord showed himself once again in a mighty way. In FAITH we stepped out and took a risk. We risked being not heard by the Lord, but of course he always hears us. It’s about how long will we ask until we give up? Will we persevere? Will we step in FAITH and reach out to HIM?
So the last big influence the Lord used in my walk this year was a married couple from Thailand. Pastor Panya and Rapee. To read that blog click here – (Stepping Out in Faith). Beautiful, God fearing, fire breathing, Kingdom bringing, servants of the most high! As I heard their story of how they met, became pastors and evangelists, I was drawn to them. There are very few words to describe their journey into the norther highlands of Thailand. Their call to bring the Good News and live in the wild in order to bring trust into relationships with witch doctors, opium addicts, and very confused people. They went, and waited…trusting God every step of the way. They each fought malaria, dengue fever, and of course parasites and other sorts of bugs and ailments. But they stayed, even when things seemed hopeless and pointless. But the Lord said to wait patiently and to trust them. From their obedience, many have come to Christ. Many addictions broken. Many villages have turned to Jesus for their comfort, protection, and of course LIFE! A true account of what it means to step into FAITH.
The Lord has used this year to break me in my understanding of walking in faith. I chose to step into the unknown and pursue the unseen.In 10 short months I have no doubt about what God can of can’t do. He is the beginning and the end. The author of our lives. He wants me to trust him. To allow him to do his will. I prayed the Lord’s Prayer everyday for 12 years of my life and only now see why I had a hard time relating to God. He just wants me to trust Him. And in order to do that I need to put my unwavering faith in him. As I reflect on James 1:2-8, I see that faith that I need to have. I see the process in which I need to go through. I see the man I’m becoming and I know I still get blown and tossed by the wind and waves. But that’s because there’s still a hint of my own hand in things. I know I need to let it all go. To pour my whole heart, soul and strength into what the Lord has. And that’s 100% him and 0% me. Only then will I be 100% of what I am called to be…
