Realities and Perspectives

We live in strange times, don’t we? We wake up to death counts, hospital occupancy percentages, intense conflict, and “breaking news”. Many around the world are struggling to stay alive and many take their last breaths day after day. Millions have lost loved ones. Almost everyone knows of a casualty. Thousands have started to battle undiagnosed depression and anxiety as we continue to live in a world of one hundred percent uncertainty. Some live stuck in their house as governments continue to make decisions based on the current statistics. The Webster dictionary defines chaos as “a state of utter confusion” but I think some of us would define it by 5 letters: C-O-V-I-D. These times we live in are unprecedented. We have nothing to rely on. No handbook, no prior knowledge, no to-do lists, nothing. Our lives are continuing to change day by day. This is our reality.   

Now I know what you may be thinking: “wow Jack this is a really dark blog post, why are you posting this on your world race blog page”. Yes I agree, I find it very strange as well. However, with the rise of the delta variant and the rise of cases worldwide, the realities of Covid-19 have already started to affect my plans this coming 9 months. 

I knew from the moment that I signed up that there was a chance that Covid-19 changed the way my trip was going to be. I knew there was a chance that all of it changed that matter. I told myself I was going to embrace the idea of this change and not hold tightly to any plan. However, for me and my team as we move to the change of going on the trip, we held tight to the timeline that had been given to us. It helped us to ground ourselves on the certainty we felt with that plan. 

Over the last few months I had not received any information about any new changes to my route or our original plans. Everything seemed to be going smoothly and we were all super pumped to get to go on this trip with the timeline we had been given. I had placed our expectations of that timeline and it became what I thought the reality was for the trip but then again as cases continue to rise our plans have changed a little bit.

The original plan was to have 6-8 weeks of training at our base camp in Georgia and then launch to Costa Rica in late October or early November. However, now we will be having 5 weeks of training at our base camp in Georgia and then launching for about 2 weeks domestic outreach on October 16th followed up with a few days of debrief before we head to our first country. From training we will then be headed out to Romania on November 5th! 

These changes came suddenly to us racers however they were in the process of being made for the last few weeks now. They were made with the knowledge we have at our hands at the moment, lots of prayer, and guidance from the Lord. As I have been processing these changes they have become very exciting however also a little scary. 

There is a common saying, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans!” While I don’t think God is malicious in his laughter; I do believe he wonders why I thought I had the right to determine my final route in the first place. Proverbs 16 is filled with wise sayings that give the true perspective of who is in charge of “making plans.”

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” (Prov. 16:9)

Many of the wise sayings in Proverbs 16 identify that while it is natural, if not even good for me to make plans, I must recognize my future plans often may seem right to me, but are truly selfish and lead to bad results (Prov. 16:1, 2, 25). The good news is: God is in the business of changing our plans to His plan, resulting in something much better than I could hope for. Our human brains are tiny compared to the glory and presence of God. This is what he did with his own disciples during Biblical times and is clearly what he does with his disciples in modern times as well.

Our human brains are tiny in comparison to the glory and presence of God. We may never understand why he does things in the moment. Oftentimes when our plans change it leads to hurt and confusion. However, hindsight is 20-20. Many times we realize why he did what he did once we have gone through it. In short, it’s a matter of perspective. God has a perspective on life and the world that we will never be able to have. How do we view the plans God has for us? Are we confident in his promise that his plans are for good or are we weary in that promise?  

My squad will get the opportunity to spend a white Christmas in Romania and many of us, including myself, were most excited about going to Romania. This is great considering that our chances of getting to go there have improved greatly since they have pushed our departure date for Romania to be sooner. 

The scary side of these changes becomes the realities of Covid-19. We have seen over the last year and a half that the numbers go up and down with time, which adds uncertainty to my trip. I am unable to fully know what my trip will look like until I have finished it and this is exciting but also scary.

The Bible shows us over and over again that God’s plans aren’t what we would necessarily choose for ourselves. But God never lets the faithful be put to shame. It isn’t Noah’s plan to build an ark, or Moses’s plan to part the Red Sea. It isn’t Joshua’s plan to march around Jericho, and it isn’t the widow’s plan to give Elijah her last. It isn’t Esther’s plan to go before the king. But they do it, and they are delivered through their confusion and doubts. 

As I continue in preparation these next 2 weeks, I ask that your prayers be centered towards the realities my squad and I are facing as our departure date approaches. I ask for prayers that we would all be reminded of the realities of the God we serve as we are reminded of the realities of the situation that we all face. Finally, I ask for prayers over the safety of our team as we enter the dangers of the world outside of America. 

I am more than stoked to have the opportunity to go on this trip. These changes may have caught me by surprise but I am standing strong together in the knowledge that I have of the character, protection, and the reality of the God I serve. As I conclude this blog I want to leave y’all with a challenge: when God changes your plans, look for his blessing of something new and unexpected. Change your perspectives. 

While the pain of loss may be very real, God’s grace is sufficient to carry us into his next steps for our lives. For the “things of God” lead to life-giving plans.