Honesty Pants

It’s bizarre for me to say that camp is over.
Wasn’t I just at orientation? Weren’t we all just starting week 6?
Never has time flown so fast.

I’ve decided what camp does to your mind is just simply unfair. You fight day and night in the trenches for souls and at the same time, you are sitting front row as a pupil in the classroom of the Lord as He teaches you things about yourself, His nature, this fallen world, and those that surround you. You process little by little along the way, but at the end your mind can’t help but ask, ‘What in the world just happened?’ And because of who I am, it usually takes me all fall semester to answer that question adequately. But for now, here’s my best attempt . . .

This summer, the Lord showed me how He passionately fights for my soul. He revealed to me how hardened the world has made us all, how fast we run away. Yet, He never grows weary of passionately pursuing us. This summer, the Lord called me to boldly speak truth, to tear down the walls of lies, and like Nehemiah, to rebuild with truth in one hand and a sword in the other. This summer, I was called to fight. To fight despite how much or little fruit I saw, to fight despite how weary I might become, to fight despite who might or might not like me because of it.

And this past week, it all made sense. The pieces of the puzzle that the Lord has been handing me, one by one, has now completed. He has been equipping me to fight for three specific souls in my life - souls that I care about beyond measure. He has been equipping me to fight for them, boldly speak truth to them, and point them to the cross. I was, and now more than ever, am called to faithfully fight.

Back in high school, our basketball team would always go running around town after a hard pre-season workout of weights, agilities, and whatever other torture you can think of. It was hard to run well because your body was already tired. I remember how it was always extremely windy – normal Oklahoma weather, I suppose. But during these runs, my coach would purposely draw up the run so we would have to run against the wind for the last quarter of a mile or so.

I can remember one specific day when we were nearing the last quarter. My coach and I were stride by stride, and the turn for last quarter was getting closer. Knowing that the wind was about to hit, my coach looked at me with fight in her eyes and told me, “Head down, knees up. Let’s do this.”

Rounding that corner, with our heads down and knees up, we fought against the wind.

At camp, it’s easy to run. It’s easy to speak truth, be who you are truly called to be, and talk about what Jesus has done. Every day, you have someone encouraging you, holding you accountable, speaking truth to you, and loving you with Christ’s love. It’s easy, simply because the wind is at your back.

Yet, as soon as I turned left off of Pop McKenzie Road on Sunday, the wind changed. No longer am I running with the wind at my back. I’m running into the wind of the world - the wind that is filled with lies, distractions, and temptations. But because of who I am in Christ, because the Lord is stride in stride right beside me, I am not called to run with the wind. I’m called to run against it.