Since accepting my spot on the World Race and beginning the journey a variety of emotions have come and gone. The first was fear. Fear of telling my parents, fear of having to raise money, fear of leaving friends and family, fear of not having a job after I graduate, fear of not knowing what to do with my students loans, and, finally, fear that I had gotten God’s message wrong.
Each fear was a result of not trusting God. I did not trust that He would be able to work through my parents’ hearts. I did not trust that He would provide the money. I did not trust that He will provide new friends and a new family for the eleven months that I will be gone. I did not trust that my most important job is to share the gospel. I did not trust that God had a plan for my student loans. And, finally, I did not trust that God’s ultimate plan is for me to glorify Him. Something that I know will be done on the World Race.
A friend of mine told me that spiritual warfare was coming if I chose to accept…but spiritual warfare was here before I was ever offered a spot on the World Race. Satan puts “impossible” feats in our wake to make us think we can’t do it. He’s right, we can’t. No impossible feat is needed to tell us that. We tend to forget, though, that God can do it. He can move mountains. He can make walls tremble. He can overcome every obstacle in my way…and will if He chooses to. So what fear would I have knowing that God has overcome so much more than my silly fears? Why would I think these small things would somehow be too much for Him?
I should have no fears, yet I do. How can I overcome those? The only defense mechanism God gives us for spiritual warfare is to take up“…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Ephesians 6:17-18). Everything else requires me to trust God. Trust that He will provide. Trust that if going on the World Race is in God’s plan then nothing can get in my way if I trust Him to take care of it. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” That is what I must do. I know that He will, because He has told me.
