We have a new group of 35 or so CGA students down here now in Gainesville and to kick off the start of a new season, we were sent packing. Literally. I recently spent 4+ days out in the Georgia wilderness, roughing it in bear country and living off granola, trail mix, and quinoa/queenwah/keenwahwahweewah (still don’t know what it is or if this is a real word).
Joaquin (Pheonix) Wah!
So over the course of that time, we were broken into smaller teams and separated from everyone else. It was a week of being challenged on different levels, separating from outside distractions, and mainly just listening for God to speak and for us to hear what He had to say. For me two big things came out of this week. So here’s the first.
I’m not Moses! Shocking isn’t it? I’m not a man who was floated down the river in a basket as a baby, killed a local, hid out for 40 years before being called by God to return to lead a bunch of rambunctious and at times downright dumb people around the wilderness for 40 more years only to die right before entering into the place that was the final destination.
That was the first thing God told me. See, way back before going on the World Race I had this season of identifying heavily with Moses. God called him to something huge and he made every excuse in the book to get out of it. God proceeded to swat all those things aside like Manute Bol blocking shots. Before the race I identified with that and with Moses. But I also found comfort in what God told him to allay all of his silly fears.
While a good attempt at splitting the Red Sea, Manute Bol is not Moses either.
It wasn’t until I was on the trail last week and our team leader asked us to think about Moses that I finally had the revelation that I don’t identify with him or that line of thinking anymore. I don’t fear what I once did because my faith is not in my own abilities, but in God to show through the gifts He has blessed me with. I guess I’ve known that for awhile, but I never actually stopped to think about it and the revelation was pretty cool.
Yeah, definitely not this guy anymore.
So when hearing that from God, I asked whose life I should focus on in the Bible in my current season since Moses is old news. Because you know, there are some pretty solid people in there. What He responds with is a little surprising. He lets me know that He doesn’t want me playing some comparison game with someone out of the Bible. What He really wants is for me to be the co-author in my own story with Him, and not worry about my life being on par with someone else’s, regardless of how high quality their character is. How awesome is that?
I think I’m gonna have the time of my life doing it as well.
The second and completely unrelated revelation from my week in the forest will be along shortly. Stay tuned.
