I pushed open the library door and walked out into the balmy night. It was muggy, abnormally hot for 11:30 pm, and I was exhausted. Yet there I was, feeling the urge to stop, take a seat, and listen. So I did.
I sat on a bench outside, the wind whipping my hair. It was storm’s-a-comin’ weather, the kind you get when it’s hurricane season. I already felt as if I was in another country, far away from my current reality. To the average passerby, I looked like any other college student, taking a break from the quiet and solitude of the library. Maybe I was about to go back in for another study session. Maybe I was headed home. Maybe they thought I was a little out of it, especially if they noticed I was talking to myself. And I was talking, but not to me. I was talking to God. Our conversation went a little something like this:
Really God? You’re bringing this opportunity up now? What happened? I thought this wasn’t in the cards for me anymore… Go.
But I have a life, I’ve made plans for after I graduate. I’m doing the responsible thing and making a plan…. Go.
But what about my family? Whose going to take care of them? Are you going to watch out for them? Make sure that my mom doesn’t worry herself to death or my dad stress himself out at work?… Go.
What if something bad happens while I’m away, and I’m not here to fix it?… Go.
But won’t I be disappointing all these people who have invested in me and my future? Will they see this as me throwing my life away?…. Go.
Geez Lord, it really is expensive. How will I ever raise that much money?… Go.
Ok God, if I were to go, what will happen? And when should I go?… Go.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to GO and bear fruit– fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.” -John 15: 16-17
What does it look like to love one another? In that same passage of John, Jesus says “greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” To me, friends are the people I love. To God, this means everyone is my friend because I should love each person as he has loved me. And he has loved me a WHOLE lot. I’m not perfect and I never will be. I’m a sinner, broken, and I make mistakes all the time…even when I swear up and down that I’ll never let it happen again. But I do. I fall. And God has enough grace to pick me back up, dust me off, and send me on my way with a little love pat and a wave. So I should be doing the same for others. Not just that, but laying down my life for them.
Now this whole idea of laying down your life for your friends kind of sticks with me. For me, that looks like the life I had planned. The one where I’m successful and following my own path. Because God wants me to do that…he wants me to instead follow His path. By doing so, I show love to my friends. Even the ones I have yet to meet on this crazy journey. Maybe God uses this to give love to someone whose broken and beaten down by life, or maybe He doesn’t use me at all. But if I do this, I’m taking the step. I’m trusting, obeying, and letting God use me to love others. Because he loves me, how can I not obey? Jesus says “if you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” This is in the same passage as the all of the other scripture I’ve quoted, John 15: 9-17. Pretty powerful stuff. I recommend you read it.
On a bench I sat. On a balmy and windy night I decided….Ok God, I’ll go.
Some of you may be asking yourself, why the World Race? For me, it’s because God told me to. As you can see, I have a million questions, concerns, and worries about it, but God’s not asking me to think about those. He’s asking me to go. And I can’t live with myself (or call myself a Christian) if I don’t listen and obey. This isn’t to say that everyone should be doing the World Race, but if you hear the call…go. Whatever the destination or the journey it takes to get there, you should go. Because God asked you to and if you love Him, you’ll do it.
