Live the Adventure of Following Jesus
I can’t see two feet in front of me. I don’t know what will happen next. There is no way to know the future, because it has not come yet. This is so different from the way I used to want things to be. I wanted to know years in advance what was going to happen so that I could be prepared for it. And yet there was no way to know the future then, either. But our culture points us towards controlling what happens to us, planning our direction and taking step by step to reach those goals. Our culture wants that certainty, that control.
But what I have learned to accept and to embrace, even, is that there is no way to know what the future will hold, not even what we think that we want to happen. And if we’re following Jesus, we really don’t have a clue as to what will happen next, what God will arrange for us to experience. The only thing we know for sure, as the saying goes, is death and taxes! So why not live in the adventure of living in the present, of giving up our desires and expectations in favor of the training and healing ground that He has in store for us.
Living the adventure of not knowing means that we are always being surprised and even delighted and sometimes shocked, because He often suggests things that go beyond what we’re prepared to do. That we are being healed and transformed. That we are being trained to be flexible and to just go with the flow of love as it is given to us. That the only certainty we have is that God is in charge of the universe and of our lives and that we can trust Him in all things. Even more than that, we can trust that He will bring us to the fulfillment of who He created us to be. To living fully and lovingly. To expressing all that we are. To being at peace and living in His grace and blessings. That is the promise of the life of following, even discipling with, Jesus.
If we are willing to go where He would lead us, we will find all this in our lives and more. All it takes is for us to put our attention on the “still, small voice” of the Indwelling Spirit of God within us and to willingly do whatever He suggests. Gradually, He will highlight issues for us to deal with by allowing Him to heal them. He will offer us opportunities that we never thought of for ourselves, other ways of helping others. One sure way to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit is that His suggestions leave us breathless, because they are just beyond our own self-image. God does not think like we do! My experience is that what He is offering me is actually easy to do with His help, once I’ve gotten over my surprise and shock, even.
Live the adventure! Give up control which is an illusion anyway! Let God lead your life! Let God heal all your pain and suffering and then direct you to use the wisdom gained to help others! Learn how to love God, yourself and others! Truly serve the Lord, not as you want, but as He directs! Live the life you were designed to live! Live Jesus’s Two Great Commandments!
And then, whatever comes into your life, you can accept and embrace. You won’t be spending any time resisting what is already true in your life; you’ll be asking, ”How can I deal with this new reality?” And then doing it. There is a peace that comes to us as we give up all resistance to what is already true. A peace in which we know that it is important for us to get on with it, that God will help us deal with the ramifications, the grief, no matter what comes to us, He is always there. And that we can trust Him unconditionally with all that comes to us. It is always for our own good, even if we can’t see the good immediately. We can live the promises of the 23rd Psalm, knowing that He is in our corner always, guiding us and that “Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”
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Questions to ponder over the week: Am I really willing to go wherever Jesus would take me? If not, what do I have to give up to start this whole process? And after more, what more would I have to give up? Am I really willing to have God show me the way? Will I lean on Him for help with the challenges and the blessings? Will I love God with all of myself and not hold back even a bit of me?
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Blessing for the week: May we be the people of God who follow Jesus wherever He takes us. May we set aside all the doubts and worries and what-ifs to be His forever. May we be at peace in the journey.
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