A few days ago, my squad landed in Washington, D.C. after more than 20 hours of flights. Just days before, we received an email stating that all of us would be leaving the mission field and returning to the states, asap. The days that followed drained us emotionally as we said goodbyes, tried to process, and prepared ourselves not only to go home, but to go home to a country in a state of panic and fear.
Though we were sad to return to the states so soon, we decided to take advantage of the city that we landed in. The next morning, some sweet friends and I woke up early to (cautiously and safely) explore the monuments and see the famous cherry blossoms. The catch was that we only had two hours. As we arrived at the National Mall, our Uber driver said, “Whatever you do, don’t go left. There’s nothing to see over there. Definitely go right.” I’m really not sure why, but we went left. And it was really beautiful. The cherry blossoms are in peak bloom this week, and they were unlike anything any of us had ever seen. We hopped from one monument to the next and laughed more than we had in days. We had the whole place to ourselves and we took pictures that look photoshopped due to no one else being in them. And we did it all just in time for us to be picked up. The entire drive back to the hotel, we geeked about how perfect the morning was and we all thanked each other for being so carefree and spontaneous at what was actually a pretty sad time for us all.
And that’s exactly what God is asking us racers to do now.
Months ago, if someone had held out their hands to me, with the World Race in their right hand and life at home in their left, I would have said the same thing our Uber driver did. “There’s nothing to see on the left, definitely go right.” And I’m sure anyone on my squad would have done the same.
But God chose the left by asking us to come home. He chose for us to not be on the race, at least not right now. And I imagine that this walk will go exactly like our walk at the National Mall did. We will not only still see all the pretty things, but we will see them in peak bloom. We will hop from one big thing to the next, all in perfect timing. And at the end, we will look at the people who walked with us, and we will thank them for being there.
Whatever He has for us, it will be very beautiful, and we won’t be able to imagine it any other way.
“He knows the ways that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold.” Job 23:10
