Why the Race? What is it about sleeping in a tent for a year, moving to a new country every month for 11 months, traveling around the world with a group of people I’ve never met, carrying all my possessions in a backpack, leaving my family, friends, job, church, community, roommates, …….. for nearly a year, makes me go, “Yeah!”?
For the last year, a particular phrase of the Lord’s Prayer (see Matthew 6) has been continuously echoing in my mind.
“Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
This is the very first request Jesus makes to the Father as he prays. It is also the first promise. Jesus asks the Father to bring his Kingdom to earth, but in numerous places in scripture (like Luke 4:43-44) Jesus also promises that he will bring the Kingdom, that in fact his very purpose is to declare that the Kingdom of God has come through him.
I want to pray what Jesus prays and I want my purpose to be Jesus’ purpose. I want my life to be about the Kingdom. God’s Kingdom is here, now, ever-growing. Every heart that knows Christ, every deed done in the name of the Lord, every place transformed by the Gospel, everything under the reign of Christ is the Kingdom.
But, there are many places, many people that still desperately need to hear the message of a God who loves them enough to die for them, to wipe away every wrong, and bring them into his family. Jesus promises this will happen, but it isn’t finished yet. And in God’s goodness, he allows us, his simply human children, to help fulfill this purpose on earth. He allows ME! An imperfect, approval-seeking, forgetful, procrastinator who has been redeemed by the Father, to help fulfill this purpose of growing his Kingdom. Praise be to God.
Going on the World Race allows me an opportunity to reach people I could not ordinarily reach, see places I would not ordinarily see, experience cultures I would not ordinarily experience, and be shaped and changed in ways I would not ordinarily be shaped and changed all for the purpose of growing God’s Kingdom around the world. I want every ear to hear, every eye to see, every heart to know God’s love for them. When this happens, the Kingdom of God grows.
And, if this is both Jesus’ prayer and his promise, then I want my life to be used for it.
Now, you don’t have to leave your country, your state, or even your own neighborhood to serve this mission. There’s work to be done in our own backyards. However, I feel called to do so. A friend of mine once told me that a missionary is someone who leaves their friends and family for a time so that others might be with theirs for eternity.
I might be leaving many wonderful people dear to my heart, leaving nearly everything I own, leaving my bed, my home, what is familiar, what is comfortable… but only for a time. I’m doing it so that others can come to know the saving and everlasting love of God so they might have a home and a family for eternity in God’s Kingdom. So, Lord, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Thanks for allowing me to have a small role in this big story.
