Another blog from Brady – this is what we’re about. Brady is learning that the primary reason she is on the World Race isn’t to save others, but to come alive. She says it much more eloquently, so keep reading. Continue to pray for these young warriors who are beginning to understand abundant life and walk in it:
To be totally honest, I expected the World Race to be just an
extension of my past mission experience. I expected to be changed this
year and I would have been very disappointed if I got home and wasn’t
changed, but I thought that it was the ministry that would change me. I
thought that traveling around the world and witnessing what God is
doing in all these different countries is what would change me.
Seth Barnes and all the other AIM leaders talk about the purpose of
the World Race and it’s not about helping people around the world. It’s
about waking up a generation. I thought they meant that we were woken
up to the world, to what God’s doing in the world, and to how we can be
apart of it. And now I finally realize what they really meant.
We’ve
traveled 33 hours in the last 48 so I’ve had a lot of time to ponder on
the last 3 months I’ve spent on the World Race and here’s what I
realized:
I’m learning that the World Race isn’t about ministry. It isn’t
about saving orphans in Africa or rescuing young prostitutes in Asia.
Ministry is a tool or more often a byproduct of what it’s really about.
The World Race is about saving me. Saving me from a life of
complacency. Saving me from comfort. Saving me from a life where I
fulfilled my dreams but not necessarily God’s dreams for me.
And while the World Race is focusing on saving me, I’m learning that
it’s not about me at all. I’m learning that the world is not about me.
Even my own life isn’t about me.
I’m learning to dream God’s dreams. I’m learning who I am. I’m
starting to find the true person that God created in me. I’ve been
looking at myself through a fun-house mirror that doesn’t reflect a
true image, but distorts the way I see myself. God’s giving me a new
mirror that gives a crystal-clear, perfect reflection. I’m starting to
see myself through His eyes and embrace what He sees- my true image. To
see this image clearly, I have to let go of the old one. I have lose
everything I’ve placed my identity in so I can place it in God alone.
I’m
learning more and more things that I don’t like about myself but if I’m
not aware of my faults, how will I ever be able to work on them? It’s
not easy being shown your faults by God, others, or even yourself, but
it’s necessary. You’ve got to “push through the pain” as Seth says. You
have to die to be reborn. And death is not a pretty or painless
process.
I’ve matured more in my spiritual life over the last 4 months
(beginning at World Race training camp in April) than I have in the
last 23 years. God is revealing himself to me. He’s taking me into new
levels of intimacy with him. He’s showing me true worship, true prayer,
true fasting.
Ultimately, I’ve learned that the World Race is not a mission trip.
It’s a pilgrimage. It’s about leaving the safety and comfort of my
previous life and discovering who God made me to be.
Part 2: Prescription glasses Part 3: Dust and potholes Part 4: Raging river
