A dear friend and squad mate of mine asked me this question at training camp.
What obstacles did you overcome to make it here?
This is my friend… His name is Mike. Check out his Blog!
My thoughts went back to the day I found out that I had been accepted for the World Race. I began explaining to Mike that the following day, I unexpectedly found out that I didn’t have enough money to pay for my last semester of college. Part of my financial aid fell through, and what I was awarded was not sufficient. If it wasn’t paid within the week, I would be dropped from all my classes, and graduation would slip through my hands.
This was a very real and tangible barrier standing in my way, but God showed me that it was only a reflection of what was really holding me back.
When I heard the news, I felt kinda like this…
Poor Ronda…
I had no idea how I was going to come up with the $1300 I needed to pay for school. I felt like I was on the receiving end of a swift kick to the face.
And now God wants me to commit to $16,962 mission trip?! Uhh… WHAT?
There is no way this was going to work, and I HAVE to graduate!
How can I say yes to this… say yes to God?
At the time, it seemed like a knockout blow. I had spent weeks praying and listening to God, and I felt like this World Race was what He had for me. In light of this news, however, doubt came crashing in.
It seemed like I had a money problem.
What I realized, is that I had a trust problem.
Growing up, my family struggled financially. If it wasn’t a medical expense, it was bankruptcy. If it wasn’t bankruptcy, it was divorce. A spirit of poverty plagued me, and it skewed my image of God.
I had a hard time believing God could provide for me. He seemed far removed from my financial burdens, even though I knew He wasn’t.
Just look at the Word and HE lays it out plain and simple.
Luke 12:24 – “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!”
Psalms 34:10 – The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
Philippians 4:19 – And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
How many of you know this to be true?
Do you believe it?
Do you act like you do?
To cross over that bridge from knowledge to belief, to go deeper with your relationship with God, takes faith in action – it takes courage. So I made a choice. I said yes.
About a month ago, after doing some research and making some phone calls, my mom found out that they had made a mistake. Soon after, I looked in my bank account and guess what I saw – a deposit for $1300. My debt had been paid.
God is stretching us. Calling us deeper. Challenging us to trust him.
Trust him.
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
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