This past weekend had an uncanny resemblance to the same weekend a year ago.
As I sat along Phewa Lake in Pokhara, Nepal this past Sunday before making the eight hour bus ride back to Kathmandu, I felt a sense of déjà vu.
Exactly a year before, I sat along a different lake in northern Michigan during a Young Life leadership retreat and made the decision to go on the World Race.
I went into both weekends feeling drained and overwhelmed, but, along each lakeside, God restored my soul.
A year ago I was feeling overwhelmed by my workload and facing the decision of whether or not to go on the Race. I felt burdened with uncertainty.
This past weekend, I was feeling overwhelmed by the heaviness of lies that I’ve allowed myself to believe about my identity. I felt the burden of constantly fighting them.
Yet, in both spaces, God lifted my burdens from me. He grounded me in the beauty of His creation and in Christian community that pressed in and asked the deep questions.
In the little resemblances between these two weekends, I see glimpses of His faithfulness. And that is just what I needed.
September 17, 2016: Lake City, Michigan
September 17, 2017: Pokhara, Nepal
Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quite waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his names sake. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
