Menu
Two weeks after giving notice, I loaded my few belongings in the back of the pickup and headed down the mountain. Leaving a good job that I liked, did not appear to be too logical, however it seemed like the thing I was supposed to do. I certainly did not have extensive, profound biblical knowledge, but over the course of a couple of years I had learned enough to conclude that “following God is precisely the most logical, common-sense thing a guy can do.” To be a true disciple of Jesus, you had to listen and respond. Discipleship is not a sedentary vocation. This passage from the book of John explains that we should not fool ourselves: (James 1:22) “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
It is probably one thing to allow others to fool us once and a while. I mean, people can be tricky and any of us can fall into the trap at one point in time or the other. However, it is disillusioning when someone does trick us into believing something that is just not true. After something like that happens, you often feel betrayed and cheated. But if we are the ones that are fooling ourselves, all the negativity just multiplies. We need to be able to count on ourselves while we trust in God’s Word.
A person might be uneasy or a little anxious when they feel God calling them to a task. In fact, I believe that to be a very common response, but there are plenty of accounts in the Bible where those who decided to follow God’s guidance were called to carry out endeavors that from a secular perspective, appeared to make little or no sense at all. However, biblical history repeatedly conveys the blessings of “walking with the Lord.” Think about it; Moses could have focused on being a “good Egyptian,” while profiting from his royal status in Egypt, enjoying delectable cuisine, excellent education, nice designer clothes, surrounded by servants attending to his every whim and need.
After many years of affluent and pampered existence in the palace, Moses could have enjoyed the option of dying upon an exceedingly comfy bed along with the subsequent pleasure of being buried in an extraordinarily luxurious tomb. But he didn’t do that. He first took on the vocation of an exile, then a shepherd, before accepting God’s challenge to free the Israelites from slavery. In the name of Jehovah, the Sovereign God of Creation, he took on the most powerful man in the known world.
It was a daunting, almost impossible task to lead God’s Holy nation to the Promised Land, but Moses did. At times, it appeared to be the most thankless, undertaking that a person could imagine. No more had Moses led them out of enslavement to the Red Sea, and the people began to complain. They continued to complain for the next 40 years as they wandered around in the desert.
Nevertheless, just think of the life adventure Moses was blessed with. Of course, there were trials, suffering, tribulation, etc. but the blessings far outweighed the challenges. Moses walked before the Lord, taking directions directly from God in a way that brought God to call him “his friend.”
Now, you might be thinking; “Yeah, but after all that, Moses did not get to enter the Land of Milk and Honey. That is true. Because of a spontaneous act in a weak moment of almost justifiable human disobedience, God did not allow him to cross the Jordan. Moses had to leave that privilege to his disciple, Joshua. However, after his long life of challenge, adventure, trial, and blessings, he evidently made it to the real promised land as we read in the book of Matthew:
1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. (Matthew 17:1-3)
No doubt if we could ask Moses today, if he wished he would have stayed in Egypt, the answer would be a resounding “no.” Most certainly he was much better off by attending to God’s calling, living out the adventure that God had prepared for him while looking forward to eternal peace with his Creator which he is presently enjoying.
You know, life is difficult no matter how you stack it. That has been the design since we left Eden. The struggle on the way back to Eden is what gives life meaning. Without any challenges, or opportunities to venture into the unknown, life tends to fall into predictable routine, and become redundant. Yes, we need to understand that there will be challenges and those challenges can turn into adventure if we allow it to happen. Yes, life should be lived as an adventure worth experiencing in an attitude of great expectation. And you know, there is no one better to lead you on that adventure journey than God himself.
I am afraid that many people miss the adventure that God has prepared for them.
Only looking back after the passing of so many years and experiences as testimony, am I able to believe I may make the following statement: “In January of 1983, God would provide me with an opportunity to embrace the privilege of taking another step in the adventure journey he had prepared for me.”