This past month I have been in Bulgaria with a team doing Ask the Lord or ATL ministry. We wake up everyday and ask the Lord where He wants us to partner with Him for the day. Honestly, I have seen the Lord’s presence the most on the public bus.
When people get on the bus I kinda hold my breath a little…. it’s like a game to race into a seat before the bus jets off and lurches you forward.
As you might imagine, this is a little more difficult for older people or young children.
As I have watched this happen countless times I noticed how no one laughs or makes fun of the people who lose their footing under the power of the roaring bus.
Often times people extend a hand to help them get their feet planted on the ground.
One day I watched a teenage girl get on a crowded bus right in front of me. She had no where to hold on as the bus took off and a girl, maybe in her 20’s reached over and held her hand to help her balance. They road hand in hand for 30 minutes until the teenager made it to her stop.
That’s grace if I have ever seen it.
One of my favorite things to do is define things, so of course I went to Google to define the word grace.
Grace: kindness, freely given, unmerited favor and love of God, courtesy, respect, good manners, goodness towards those who have no claim on nor reason to expect.
A few months ago, I heard this quote and the bus environment immediately brought it back to my memory…
“If you never show people a weakness, you never give them an opportunity/space to show you grace.”
How often are we afraid to let people see us wobble or lose our footing a little?
How often do we save face instead of being vulnerable?
Do we allow others the opportunity to show us grace?
I have thought a lot about this recently.
It’s not that people in my life don’t want to give me grace… I just don’t give them the opportunity to give it because I want to look put together. I don’t like to fail. I don’t like to look as if I don’t know what I am doing.
But this month was all new for me. I have never experienced a month of ATL on the World Race before and I was supposed to lead a team in it.
There were so many days this month that I felt discouraged because I couldn’t see what was happening. I couldn’t see the fruit of our days. I knew the Lord was working, but I couldn’t see it and I put pressure and expectations on myself. I wanted something BIG to happen. I eventually had to lay my expectations at the feet of Jesus. One day, the Lord had to remind me that I don’t need to see the fruit in order to follow and obey him.
I had to intentionally extend grace to myself EVERY DAY. I had to treat myself like I saw others treat each other on the bus. A few days ago I sat down with the team I was with, Team Soldod. They were talking about all they had learned this month.
They learned what it means to seek the Lord in the day to day. They learned what intimacy with the Lord looks like. They learned what it looks like to chose your community and deeply invest in each other. They learned to slow down. They learned how to seek intimacy, community, and mission without anyone telling them what to do or how to find it.
I realized in that moment that they are the fruit of this month. I pray that the things that they have learned will extend throughout the rest of the race and the rest of their lives. They learned foundational lessons of how to live in connection and alignment with the Father every day of their lives for the rest of their lives.
So my encouragement to you is to
slow down,
taste life,
give thanks,
extend grace,
and see God.
Allow everyday tasks to be holy moments.
Allow everyday places be holy ground.
We’re doing the thing!
Much love, Carson
