We’ve been in El Salvador for over a week now and God has been slowly showing me truths throughout this first week of this World Race.
Our ministry this month has been working with a church called La Red in El Tunco, El Salvador. Located in Central America, El Salvador is predominately a Spanish speaking country and very few people speak English. I’m relying on the 2 years of Spanish I took In high school. And quite honestly, I’m able to have some good conversations in Spanish. But I think as a team, we are all struggling because of the language barrier.
During a quiet time this past week, I read through 2 Timothy and reflected on these verses:
“Before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His Kingdom, I solemnly charge you: proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or not; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching.”
This past Sunday, my team and I had an off day from ministry and we decided to take surfing lessons. The town we are staying in is a very touristy beach community and attracts a lot of surfers from all over the world. And since none of us have surfed before, we thought it was a great time to learn.
If you have never surfed before, let me tell you, it is hard. There’s so much that goes into it like how to carry the board, how to pass through the white water, how to position the board and your body when about to catch the wave, how to physically stand up, and how to stay balanced while riding the wave.
Our instructors were awesome as they taught us the proper techniques of every aspect of surfing. And after practicing on the beach for a while, they lead us out to the ocean to put our practice to the test.
I headed out and put my board in the water. I used the technique the instructor taught us to pass through some white water. After getting out to a comfortable position I saw a wave forming in the distance. I went through the checklist in my mind of what I needed to do. I positioned the board and put my body on it. Now I’m facing the beach and patiently waiting for the wave to come. As it approached, I started paddling to create a little momentum before the wave catches my board. My mind is racing and I’m now thinking of the technique to lift myself up and place my feet on the board. I got about half way up and wham! I lost my balance and fell flat on my face in the water. I got back up, grabbed my board and headed back out. I passed through some white water and do the whole routine over again. And after many failed attempts, I was finally able to catch a few waves!
But how does this relate to what Paul wrote to Timothy? Paul tells Timothy to proclaim the message and persist in it whether convenient or not. Even though I kept failing at catching a wave, I still kept trying. I kept persisting until I finally caught a wave. And this is exactly what we have to do with our lives in proclaiming the Gospel. We’re going to have obstacles to over come, like a language barrier. But God doesn’t want us to just give up in a situation like that. Even though we may not speak the same language, we love the same God. And He wants us to proclaim His name and keep persisting even though we may fail.
And so thats why I pose the question: Do we look like the one we follow?
Jesus was mocked and ridiculed but did that stop him from proclaiming the message?
Throughout this race and the rest of my life, I want to look like the one I follow. I know I’m going to fail sometimes, but God doesn’t care if we fall short. He wants us to get back up and keep going.
Keep persisting.
Keep proclaiming.
