Several days into the World Race now and finally settled into our ministry site in Galway, Ireland on the beautiful west coast. Our tents are parked in a “Caravan Park” right on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean with a gorgeous view and absolutely beautiful stormy rains and high winds that threaten to blow our tents into the ocean. In between the rain, we receive sprinkles of sunshine and glorious green rolling meadows and cliffs. Ironically, this seems to be analogous to my spiritual walk with many stormy and rainy seasons with sprinkles of respite sunshine in between. Through these stormy times, God has taught me much about myself, Himself, and our relationship.
While we were still in Dublin for training camp, I had a rude awakening from the Lord. During an awesome night of worship, I was seeking the Lord’s face, direction, and guidance and couldn’t hear His voice. I pleaded with Him to speak and I would listen. The chaos of the surrounding worshippers became a distraction and I had a difficult time hearing the still, small voice of the Lord. At the exact moment I was ready to bolt out of the room to find a quiet place, a squad-mate of mine laid hands on me and prophesied that I have been a blessing to many people but now was my time to take care of me. It reminded me of a moment in training camp when one of my teammates prophesied this over me: “Be still and know that I am God.” I realized in that moment that 1. I have been chasing after God and guilty for all the things I don’t do “good enough” and I am extremely tired and 2. I can’t live the authentic Christian life by myself. I need the true fellowship of Christian believers to speak life into me as these brothers did and to encourage me and keep me accountable on my walk and remind me that I need to be still. Later that night as I was sharing my revelations with my teammates, another of my teammates gave me a good word from Exodus 14:13-14: “Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
In these few days since then, I have tried to steal moments to be still. It’s not too hard when my views of Ireland stun me into submission in awe of the beauty God has created and entrusted to our care. We will be starting our street ministry, including drama ministry, in Galway tomorrow. Please pray for our teams as we boldly go forth to proclaim the good news of Jesus’ gift of life and rest to a weary and cynical generation.
p.s. check this blog again soon, I hope to put some pictures of Ireland up soon 🙂
