The Great Adventure

 I just got off the phone with a lady from our church. She related multiple stories about the ways God is working around her and her husband and the ministry they head up. It was thrilling to hear about divine appointments that could have only been orchestrated by God. Witnessing opportunities where God manifested His presence. We both talked about the adventure of following God. 

Somewhere in Tennessee in 1992 song writer and performer Steven Curtis Chapman got inspired with the idea for a song. He titled it the Great Adventure. The chorus of that song began ringing in my head once I hung up the phone. I looked up the lyrics to get familiar with them again and printed them off to start writing this blog. The chorus is as follows:

            Saddle up your horses we've got a trail to blaze, through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace, let us follow our leader into the glorious unknown, this is a life like no other whoa whoa, this is the great adventure. 

Chapman also wrote the lyrics, Come on get ready for the ride of your life, gonna leave long faced religion in a cloud of dust behind and discover all the new horizons just waiting to be explored this is what we were created for. 

That does not seem the be the testimony of most people. Did you catch those words, "Gonna leave long faced religion in a cloud of dust behind." I believe that is where the majority of Christians live. Long faced religion. Religious duties ritualistically done leading to the same old rut and rot of the mind and heart. Let's face it. Most of what Christians do is BORING! Most worship services are BORING! Not because the word of God is not proclaimed. Not because songs of Zion are not sung. Boring because very few intend to really live out the truths they are hearing. Especially when it comes to obeying God by faith. Far too many are content to sit on the sidelines and watch a few others play. Christianity is not a spectator sport to be watched. It is the game of life to participate in as a willing available vessel of God. 

What would happen if you really sat before the Lord and gave Him your yes with no strings attached? If you committed to following His next directive no matter how outlandish or how far it stretched you beyond your comfort zone? Do you want to live out your remaining days associated with boring religion or in the pursuit of God and adventure? Adventure can be defined with words like unusual, exciting, and hazardous. Those words may scare some to death. They prefer the predictable, the routine, the safe, and secure road. There are a few thrill seekers who long for more than boring worship and meetings. They desire adventure. They long for the real God to work in real ways through them and around them. They long to give real testimonies of the real ways God works. 

I have been in pursuit of God seriously since 1991. Before that I studied for the ministry after salvation and God's call. One day on the Howard Payne campus a fellow teammate asked me my plans for the future. I had it all figured out. I laid out my plan before him in detail. He chuckled and commented, "You've got it all figured out." Fast forward 38 years. None of that went as I planned. We have followed God through open doors, more steps of faith than I can recount, serious challenges and setbacks, multiple victories, agonizing defeats, relocation after relocation, and one adventure on top of another. 

I made a promise to God several decades ago that I would follow Him and run toward every leap of faith He called me to and jump trusting Him for where I landed. It reminds me of standing on the edge of a cliff we used to jump off into a lake as kids. It was a 30' drop into the water. The first time I stood on the edge and looked down to the water my knees trembled. I did not like the height. Fear rose and began strangleing all the courage I had. Down below all my friends were telling me to jump. I knew I could not turn back as a coward. They would never let me hear the end of it. I had to jump. I backed away from the edge and psyched myself to take a running start and leap. You know what the hardest part of that leap was? Not going off the edge as you might suppose. Committing to those first steps. Once I hit a full sprint I threw caution to the wind and just jumped. In midair I do not recall fear. I still remember though, trying to work up the courage to take those first steps. 

Now that is what following God by faith is like. It is the pathway to great adventures. It all starts with the willingness to say yes to God. No matter how fearful you just say yes and commit to obey. This requires some courage. The reward is a lifetime of God encounters that thrill the soul. Not to obey is cowardice that will lead to regret and long faced boring religion. Which do you want? Which does God want for you? Read II Corinthians 5:7 and Hebrews 11:6 if you are unsure of that last answer. Your great adventure begins with one yes and one step of obedience that leads to many other steps. Go ahead. Try it. 

Personally I am going to end this by praying. I will ask God if there is some other major step of faith He is calling to me to at this time. If He reveals something, I commit in advance to say yes and to comply. Only He knows what great adventure it will lead to next.