This blog picks up from a story I’m sharing across three blog posts. Read the first two and then come back to this one to find out how it all ends.
First two blog posts:
Recap: I’m sitting by a fire with more Bedouin men, and one of them tells me it would be great if I became Islamic.
Well, before the conversation could go any further, the camp owner interjected and told me it’s almost time for dinner and that I should go back to my camp. The camp owner even offered to walk me back to camp. So without much of a choice, I thanked the other men for their hospitality, and started walking back to my camp with the camp owner by my side.
The camp owner decided to use the walk back to scold me, telling me it’s not safe to be wandering around the desert and that I shouldn’t get into strangers’ cars. He also told me not to talk to anyone I meet in the desert (woops, already did that), and I should stick to staying close to camp.
I think I made him scared for my life.
Eventually I made it back to camp where I scarfed down food, warmed up by a fire, and unpacked the day with Jesus because I wanted to know what He thought about it all.
Was I being carelessly reckless?
Was my discernment off?
Should I have been afraid for my life?
Why didn’t I feel afraid?
Jesus’ Perspective
Jesus’ First Thought
First, Jesus brought me to Psalm 23:4a,
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”
He told me the reason I wasn’t scared was because that’s what happens when I go into any situation knowing deep in my heart that He’s with me.
Jesus’ Second Thought
Jesus also brought me to Luke 12:4,
“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he is killed, has authority to cast into hell.”
Jesus used that verse to show me that it was good that I wasn’t afraid for my life or what they could do to my body, and I was right to be more concerned with their lives and where they could end up if they don’t know my beautiful Savior. Now, I can’t take credit for getting to this place of caring more for the lost than my own safety on my own, which brings me to one more thing Jesus showed me about all of this.
Jesus’ Third Thought
Early on in this World Race Adventure, Jesus scrapped all my ideas and plans about what I wanted to happen on this journey, and He narrowed it down to one thing: Him. John 15 has been a central chapter for this season, but specifically verses 5 and 9:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in Him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing…As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”
He made it clear that this year was going to be about diving deeper into His love for me and loving Him back by abiding in Him. In obedience, I’ve hung out with Him as much as I could in my free time on the Race, saying no to a lot so I could protect the yes I gave Him.
Right when we got to Jordan, which was a week before going to Wadi Rum, I had asked Him, “Is all this time abiding in you really doing anything? Why is this all that you want from me? ”
Well, Jesus used what happened in the Wadi Rum desert to give me a glimpse into how abiding in Him has and will continue to transform me into more like Him. More of Him and less of me is the only reason I didn’t fear for my life and cared more about the lost men in the desert.
Do you want to have adventures with Jesus? Do you want to walk this life knowing Jesus has “given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you” (Luke 10:19)? Do you want to care more for the lost than what happens to your body?
Just abide in Him, and He will take care of the rest.
A beautiful account of what it’s like to walk with Jesus!