To be completely honest, the first four months of the race were hard for me and not at all what I expected them to look like.
Coming into the race, I had all of these huge plans for what I wanted to see. (emphasis on the I). I was praying to see people healed, miracles, signs and wonders, demons casted out of people, etc etc etc…..
And when I didn’t see those things right away month one, I was flustered and frantically like, “uhhh hello God, why aren’t these things happening?!?”
Classic Mikayla, wanting to see things happen right away. Little did I know that God had WAY better plans for me!!!
Countless times over these past 4 months, I kept hearing God saying things like:“trust me” “patience, my beloved” “He’s in the waiting”
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31
I’ve never really had to cultivate patience before….so this was a new thing for me and it drove me kind of insane for awhile. It got to the point where every time someone would give me a word, it had something about patience in it…. (God is such a jokester hehe)
Over these past 4 months, God has taught me what it looks like to slow down, to be present, and to walk in deeper dependence on The Father.
God, Thank You for showing me that a miracle can simply look like sitting with an immobile child and making her smile.
Thank You for putting me on team Established in Love, with people who are different than me, who challenged me, who called me out, and who called me higher.
Thank you for speaking to me in new ways and helping me to deeper understand your voice.
Thank You for showing me how to press into your presence when I’m upset rather than letting bitterness fester in my heart.
Father, Thank You for the Mennonite church in Cambodia, that taught me the complete awe and reverence that comes from singing old hymns and wearing conservative clothing.
Thank you for ministry hosts (@Sharelle) who sit with me for hours at a coffee shop and pour into me with God-breathed wisdom.
Thank you for putting people in my path that had different views than me….thank you for giving me the grace to understand their perspectives and learn from them with a teachable spirit.
Papa, Thank You for slowing me down, stripping me raw, and bringing everything back to the simple gospel.
Through these past 4 months, God broke off chains of judgement, selfishness, and pride in my heart. He gently showed me that I don’t know everything (surprise, surprise), and I’m never done learning and growing in His presence. He taught me that I can learn something from every person around me, regardless of denomination, interests, convictions, etc.
All in all, these last 4 months involved a lot of deep personal growth and cultivating fruits of the spirit inside of me. Without them, I would still be my opinionated, naive, over-confident self!!!
The best part in all of this: God doesn’t lead us into a wilderness season without a promised land on the other side! And I finally feel like I’m stepping into a totally new and reviving season.
3 days ago, we got to Naam (Vietnam, that is) with a new team and a new ministry host that is super silly, wise, and Spirit-led. He talked to us for hours about crazy Holy Spirt moments in his life and how he wants us to do a bunch of Holy Spirit ministry this month…and I’m sitting there with my jaw open as if it’s too good to be true. Just laughing at how good and faithful God is in his promises.
Basically everything about being here so far has been so refreshing. This weekend, I got to sit in a coffee shop and hear one of my teammates testimonies (@Caitlin!!). Sunday, we went to an international church and I felt like I was in an American church for the first time in 4 months. Then, we sat in our host’s home, ate a rotisserie chicken, and listened to Christmas music. It’s the first time I’ve felt like a normal American since probably August…. (sometimes it’s refreshing to feel known and not like basic foreigners, ya know??)
Last night, we had a worship session and it was unreal….We were singing and prophesying and praying over people and just going where the Spirit goes. Someone sang in tongues and there was an interpretation. It was SO COOL! I haven’t seen anything like that in 4 months, and I’ve been longing to tangibly see God and feel his presence so strongly in a room!! To be honest, I had grown so used to hymns and had basically accepted the fact that my World Race journey just wasn’t gonna be as crazy as I thought….
But as I was sitting there in that worship session, I was hit with this intense love from The Father and I heard him whisper “how much better is it that you waited for this month?”
And I was just blown away by the Fathers faithfulness!!! Pressing in, doing different types of ministry, and going through various trials over these past 4 months has already made this month SO MUCH BETTER!!
And now I’m starting to understand why the Bible talks so much about patience and trusting God….
Like wow, okay God if waiting for things produces this much more thankfulness, then I’m excited to keep waiting in my life!!
Patience is truly mind blowing and allows us to cultivate a deep thankfulness when God fulfills His promises!
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are my ways higher than your ways,
And my thoughts than your thoughts.
[Isaiah 55:9]
The Father is so so good and his ways are so much higher than mine!!! So excited to see what else He has in store in these upcoming months with team chayah (aka hi-yah!!!)
