One week from today I will be home. It’s hard to believe that this season of my life is coming to a close.
For 9 months I lived as a nomad. The foundations of my faith were rocked to their very core. 9 months ago I didn’t know the magnitude of what was was available to me in Christ, but I chose The World Race because something within me was begging me to question if there was more. Something happens when we dethrone comfort, consumerism, and contentment in our lives. Freedom, intimacy, and celebration are the gifts received when the true King takes His rightful place. However His greatest gift of all is a heart to know Him. “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.” (Jer. 24:7) And with that, the lies and the walls I’d built up in my heart regarding His character began tumbling down. He tenderly invited me to see who He was, and slowly in the process I became more aware of who I was as a result. He gave me eyes to find Kingdom on earth. He transfigured me into an Image Bearer. He unveiled beauty around me and within me. He taught me that rejoicing in all circumstances doesn’t have to be a myth, but a reality. I am free, but freedom is a bottomless pit. It never stops giving if it is chosen. I choose it. I believe that The World Race is not the climax of my life, but instead the beginning of a beautiful story. I came alive during these 9 months, and I know abundant life in Him awaits wherever He leads.
My prayer in writing out this list is that the Spirit would speak to and minister to your heart in the specific way you need through His truth. His truth has wrecked my life, and led me to deeper waters. I’m coming home with a heart brimming with stories just waiting to be shared. If something specific sticks out to you, I’d love to talk with you about it more.
1. All God needs is my yes and willingness to sacrifice. The Holy Spirit is the true laborer.
2. Everything I hope for and long to be He already is. I am the woman I want to be when I am in Him.
3. Even though I may never see physical change in the people or places I encounter, I know that nothing can be dark where there is Light. Because I carry a portion of that Light wherever I go, things are happening in the spiritual that go beyond my sight.
4. Everyday is an invitation to celebrate Him. I have the opportunity to embrace life in all forms, including the seemingly unpolished, ugly, and uncomfortable.
5. God is so full of mercies He allows me to repeatedly be given similar lessons in order to ensure full victory. It’s not meant to discourage, but instead, empower.
6. God exceeds all language barriers. There is something profound about sitting in silence with a heart that doesn’t need your words.
7. Any glimpse of goodness I see here in this world is a reflection of the Maker of good. There are traces of His goodness everywhere in my world just begging to be acknowledged.
8. I am enough for Christ, and He is enough for me.
9. Community living is about loving each other just as we are: unfinished, unvarnished, in the middle of all the mess, in some ways very different from one another, and in other ways very much the same.
10. Prayer, the acknowledgment of sovereignty in my daily details, changes things for my weary soul.
11. I have the ability to speak Life.
12. I am capable of living with essentially nothing, for in Christ I have everything.
13. God is never done making all things new.
14. His promises are true. I can take them as my own. Why am I content to live in fear, sickness, inability? God’s character is one of freedom and liberation.
15. It’s okay to present my questions and mess to God. Write them down and do not bury them. God is a God of the real and raw.
16. Grace doesn’t keep score. Grace doesn’t make sense.
17. His law is love.
18. I am not battling against myself. Christ makes me a new creation, my old self no longer rules. (Eph. 6:12) Example: If I am a coheir with Christ, we are working together to protect my kingdom from evil trying to penetrate. I am no longer an evil ruler.
19. Nothing about faith without sight is passive. It’s about seeking God out in the dark because I know my Dad’s character.
20. The more my connection grows with the Lord, the less I’m connected to the things of this world.
21. Aligning my emotions with His truth is central to my being. Learning to take every thought captive. (2 Cor. 10:3-5)
22. God is more concerned with right responses than He is with right circumstances.
23. There is a major difference between conviction and condemnation. One kills me. The other offers me new life.
24. God loves the process. The process can be painful. He doesn’t just cut off branches that do not bear fruit, He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they can produce more. (John 15:2)
25. When the enemy attacks, all I have to do is close the door and rebuke him. He is unable to enter that way again, though he may check the locks in other places. Really when I’m under attack it gives me a status report on the doors I’ve left open. Take what was intended for harm, move forward, and grow.
26. It is faith that heals, not simply our need for healing.
27. I become what I behold.
28. Be willing to walk in the hard things with Christ and not prioritize comfort! In the willingness to relate to Him in hardship I can become more like Jesus and in the process cease from sin. (1 Peter 4:1-2)
29. Embrace stillness and simplicity. In the past I have used my busyness as a distraction from slowing down and working through matters of the heart. No more.
30. I dream of being so delighted in Him that nothing else really matters. Seeing the world in this light starts with rejoicing always, praying without ceasing and giving thanks in all circumstances. (1 Thess. 5:19)
31. There’s no place I can love Him but here right now. His very name, I AM, suggests that there is something sacred in honoring His presence in the present.
32. The sin that brought the downfall of the world was ingratitude, I can embrace the fullness of my salvation by responding to all things in thanksgiving.
33. If I’m vacationing to a 3rd world country, I need to go where my path crosses with the people’s whose heart sings their country’s song, not where I’m paying to have the Star Spangled Banner played on my behalf.
34. The heart behind good works should be about sharing in intimacy with Christ, not just about the people I am serving.
35. God is generous with His presence. If I ask for more of Him, He doesn’t hide Himself to tease me.
36. Boldness. God calls me to approach His throne of grace with complete confidence.
(Hebrews 4:16)
37. God wants to talk about me. He is never tired of the question “What are Your thoughts about me?” In a world drowning in labels, He wants to be the One to teach me my identity.
38. His space is my space. It’s not a matter of trying to include Him in my life. He lives in me and gives me life. We become more entangled by the day.
39. I can be confident that I will never let go of Him for all the days of my life, for the Spirit in me is stronger than my flesh and holds promise and oath. (Hebrews 6:16-20)
40. I am fully known and fully loved by Him.
41. The joy of the Lord is not only the root of creativity but the sustaining strength to finish what I start.
42. My soul was made to crave glory. Recognition and attention will never satisfy. Pursuing His glory means being willing to walk in the hard things.
43. If the words and actions I’m choosing don’t bring Heaven on earth, then I shouldn’t be choosing them.
44. Sometimes God asks me to sit with people in their mess. I’m not supposed to fix the problem, I’m supposed to wear His grace like gloves.
45. Like Jesus, sometimes I have to be willing to be undignified in order to rectify
46. I can be confident that God has equipped and prepared me for whatever battle I’m currently facing otherwise I wouldn’t be there. He provided detours for the Israelites from battles their hearts and minds weren’t ready for.
47. Living in remembrance of who He is and what He’s done. Often times the Israelites suffered from forgetfulness, and so do I. A “Show me what you’ve taught me. Remind me of your goodness” prayer is always a good idea.
48. God calls me to hope- to anticipate and praise Him before I see fruit. To present an offering to Him by declaring His sovereignty over every scenario. Hope redefines the context.
49. Embrace holiness and purity in all circumstances, even when it sets me uncomfortably apart. Everyone is on a journey towards likeness. Likeness to Christ alone doesn’t always make you everyone’s favorite.
50. I have to go to God as my source in all things when other people aren’t feeding my soul. Sometimes fellowship with people can be like a glass of water, but God is the well. He is enough to satisfy me.
51. My soul craves rich things. It’s so easy to get distracted with things that will only temporarily satisfy the flesh which aren’t true substance for the Spirit. God says I can no longer live on bread alone. (Matthew 4:4)
52. Continuing to ask God to show me the truth of His character. He wants to break down the false pretenses of what I think I know and show me who He truly is. Praying “God cast out all my flawed views of who I think you are.”
53. He fills every part of our praise. Whenever I hear the Spirit’s convicting voice prompting me, thank Him that I can hear Him! In praising Him, I am choosing into what He has.
54. In worship, an atmosphere of humility ushers the Spirit’s presence
55.Vision gives pain purpose. In the struggle, God gives me a chance to put skin on the theology I believe in and make it happen.
Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me, supported me, and loved me from across the globe. Thank you for sharing in this chapter with me.
May He have the glory, Rebecca
