Saturday, June 01, 2013, 10:15 PM – Sofia, Bulgaria
(Month 5 Debrief)
Maybe This is What Life
is All About
My heart
is overflowing with a good theme. God just keeps hammering me with this
message. I think I may be standing on a precipice overlooking my life, seeing
potential that I have not seen in months. I have caught a glimpse of something
eternal, the life of my dreams. I want to share what God is teaching me.
Tonight,
we extolled our two Squad Leaders who are now leaving with the end of month
five. Their names are Jeremy and Kat Cearbaugh and the impact they have made on
O Squad is unquantifiable. As everyone was expressing the difference they have
made in our lives, the love with which they have loved us, the wisdom with
which they have led us, and the courage with which they have emboldened us, it
opened my eyes to see the importance of pouring into the lives’ of others in a
way I had never seen it before. And as I was listening, I began to ask myself
this question, “I wonder if this is what life is really about. I wonder if it is
about making an impact in the lives of others that glorifies God and draws them
closer to Him.”
This is a
theme He just continues to nail me with. Most of the World Race, I feel like I
have been very concentrated on my walk with the Lord. I’ve been really pressing
into my walk with God and spending time with Him. In fact, being the introvert
that I am and recognizing the value of the Word and importance of close walk
with the Lord, I would often spend the majority of my free team pressing into
that relationship.
But, there was a bit of a problem with this. I was
becoming a little disconnected from others. I wasn’t growing close to many
people on my team and I wasn’t growing close to many people on my squad.
Honestly, I wanted to encourage them in their walk with the Lord, but really it
came secondary to my walk with the Lord. As a result, I didn’t really look to
their interests and I didn’t feel like I was loving them well.
Coming into month five in Bulgaria,
God really laid it on my heart through a conversation with my good friend Elizabeth that I needed
to let off the gas in the time I spent in the Word and focus more on living it
out in my relationships with the people on my team. Her challenge to me was
this: only spend 30 minutes in the Word each day and press into the
relationships with the people on my new team. I took her up on it.
As the month continued, I just prayed, “Lord, give me
your heart for my team.” And somewhat to my surprise, He did. I started to
really care about them. As I like to say, “I started having feelings for them.”
And it was the best month of the race so far.
Through our time here during debrief, I decided that
I was not satisfied with where I was at in my walk with the Lord, that I wanted
to go deeper. I want to take my relationship with Him to a whole new level. I
just wasn’t sure how to do it. So as I prayed about it and drew near to Him, He
gave me this incredible conversation with my parents. This conversation really
opened my eyes to see the importance of our concern, love, and involvement in
the lives of others. As my dad said, “I am convinced that love is the best
indicator of our spirituality.” By these standards, my spirituality has been
poor indeed.
And to be completely honest, I have sensed it. I’ve
just known that there is something more to the Christian life that I was not
experiencing, something big I was missing out on. I have been pursuing God, but
I have not been looking at my brothers and sisters… honestly looking at them
and saying, “God, use me to make a difference in their lives. Use me to draw
them nearer to You.” I think there is something absolutely huge, life-changing,
in that – in living a life that is oriented around loving God and loving
others.
Coming to the end of month five I thought, “Alright
Lord, care. Care for my teammates. That was the lesson of this month; what’s
next for month six?” And I feel like He’s saying,
“The same… Seth, I want you to learn to really love
your team well.” And He has been confirming this message to me again and again.
So, as I come into month six and I think about the
work we are going to do in Romania,
this is my focus: I want to pour into the lives of others. I want to see the
work that God is doing in their lives and I want to join Him in it. I want to
care for, encourage, and sharpen the people He is bringing into my life over
this month in Romania
and orient my schedule completely around loving God and loving them. I
especially want to love God by pouring into my teammates. So that is what I am
going to do.
And I am going to do it in His strength. I am going
to do things that only God can do through me. I am going to pray, and I am
going to expect Him to answer my prayers. I am going to grow in my walk with
Him because He is faithful and I am hungry for it. And by His grace and in His
power, I will make a difference that changes peoples’ lives for eternity.
Lord, thank you for speaking to me. Your words are
life to my soul. Father, I come with great expectations. You are a great God,
my God, and You live inside of me. Jesus, I commit to you this month. Lead me.
Show me how I can love, serve, and sharpen those around me. Open my eyes to
their needs and give me your love for them. You are awesome. You came to serve
and to give your life as a ransom for many. Your blood was poured out for our
forgiveness. Help all of us on Team Committed to come to a deeper understanding
of the incomprehensible love that you have for us. And take every one of us to
a deeper level in our walk with You than ever before, and I mean that.
God, I am ready to go to the next level. Let’s do
this. Amen.
PS: Ahhh, this is so good. I can just see how He is
teaching me. In Albania
He spoke to me powerfully to return me to the foundation of my faith: Him. I
was made and I was saved to enjoy a relationship with Him. That’s it. Not
anything else, just Him. My life is to know Him.
Next month, after returning to this simple, but
profound truth, He took the next step. “Now, I want you to learn to care for
others.” And so I have. My life is all about knowing Him and helping others to
do the same, the emphasis now being on others. And this month is simply a
continuation of that.
So, the Lord has been tuning my heart to the first
commandment and is now tuning it to the second. What the next step is, I have
no idea, but I very much look forward to it. I love you Lord. Lead me on and I
will follow. Amen.
