Victory Lap

I walked up to the roof and sat down. I turned on my worship playlist and began to pray. I was beginning a night of intercession on behalf of my team mates going into the red light district to do ministry. As I was sitting there, a few more of my team mates came up to the roof.

Ariana looked at us and said, “I want to do something different tonight.” I agreed with her. Praying for over two hours every intercession can become repetitive and monotonous. We decided to go for a walk and pray. We went down the stairs and onto the busy streets of Chiang Mai. We headed down the street listening to our worship music. The streets were humming with the activity of vendors and farangs (the word for a foreigner in Thai) looking to buy souvenirs. As we turned the corner by the red light district, one of my favorite songs came on—“In Christ Alone.”

There in the ground His body lay

Light of the world by darkness slain:

Then bursting forth in glorious Day

Up from the grave he rose again!

And as He stands in victory

Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,

For I am His and He is mine –

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

 The thought hit me at this moment: I am doing a victory lap for Jesus. Our God has already carried out His plan of redemption. His children’s names are written in the book of life. It is just a waiting game. Our Lord is going to come back and redeem everything. He won the victory over the enemy when He died on the cross. Sin’s curse is broken for his children! Death where is your sting?

I could choose to focus on the hold that the enemy has on people in the red light district, but I know that every knee will bow to the Lord. I know that one day He will come back. So many times we let the enemy make us forget this dazzling truth– “…that we’ve been forgiven, that our lives are brief, that we are headed to a place where we won’t be lonely, afraid, or hurt ever again…” (Crazy Love, Francis Chan) I want my life to be a victory lap for Jesus. I want my life to declare His glory! I’m not discouraged by what I see in the red light district because I know that I could see some of those men and women on the streets of gold in Heaven!

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all” (1 Chronicles 29:11, ESV)

Remember the victory we have in Christ every day.