Tuesday, March 31, 2009

It's all part of the journey...

"If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all." –David Livingstone


As night falls, darkness surrounds you. You can no longer see where you have been, or where you are going. Fear grips your heart and you begin to panic. The realization of the situation comes to you in one word, lost. You feel completely and utterly lost.

You have to find your way back! You have to get back on the road! Every ounce of instinct that you possess screams at you to find direction, to walk with purpose, to be able to see your destination.

You begin to run, trying to escape the oppressive darkness. Your legs are driven by fear as they stumble on terrain that you cannot see. Tripping on something that you didn’t know was there, you are brought to the ground on your knees. You can’t get up, you can’t keep going. The tears that are streaming down your face drip softly into the dirt.

Forcing yourself to breathe deeply, you try to turn away from looking at the darkness that surrounds you. The only direction that you haven’t looked yet is up. As you lift your eyes to the heavens, the clouds part from in front of the moon as light illuminates the path that was invisible only moments before. Your feet still walk the path that has been laid out before you; it just didn’t come in the form that you were expecting.

Not being able to see the road didn’t make it any less there. The darkness was not something to be avoided, or to be gotten through, it was just part of the journey. You won’t always be able to see the road that your feet tread, but it’s there. It is a road, perhaps not as well trod or as visible at times, but it is always there nonetheless.

Don’t mistake Trust for a lack of direction.


"Not all who wander are lost." - J. R. R. Tolkien

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

I will...

I will not shrink from what God chooses to put in my path.
I will not retreat, surrender, or run.
I will live outside my comfort zone.
I will smash boxes and shred lies.
I will no longer accept the partial truths, but seek the absolute Truth.
I will seek to see myself as God sees me.
I will not live in fear of the darkness, because I will remember what I have seen in the Light.
I will not waste today, but live it to the fullest, not lamenting the past or fretting about the future.
I will hold nothing back, but give everything that I have for my King.
I will live for an audience of One.
I will recognize that God has created me for an irreplaceable role in His greatest adventure.
I will remember perspective. The fact that it's not just about a war being waged, it's about a Victory being Won.
And when I meet a challenge that looks too deep or too high or too wide, I will not look at it as personal failure. Instead, I will look at it as an opportunity for
Triumphant Victory.