Venture into the Unknown
It's been nearly 10 years since my wife wrote this....it still inspires today as it did back then... Grab a cup of your favorite coffee (how about Peru or Costa Rica) and enjoy the read. [Photo by Anastasia Popova @madebynastia]
Venture into the Unknown
Joy is in the unknown, the unexpected. Wild and soul-soaring adventures often require us to take a leap into something risky, dangerous. I love exploring rugged terrains, luscious, undeveloped jungles, and oceans that glisten under the moonlight and roar under the heat of the sun. Their raw beauty whisper to me of an adventure that awaits if I would just hurl myself off the cliff of my comfort zone. Only when we rise up and say yes to the uncertainty of it all can we truly pour out our hearts and lives into that special something that is greater and bigger than ourselves. That something that our hearts thirst and long for.
As Oswald Chambers says,
….To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation. (My Utmost for His Highest)
My recent trip to Oahu pushed me out into the wild. Each new morning was brimming with the anticipation of a new adventure, a new encounter, a new discovery. Most days were unplanned until the morning of. God revealed more in those 5 glorious days than I could ask, think or imagine. I didn’t realize all the ways God has been pleading with me to venture out in faith. To unearth my long forgotten desires. To go where he leads with no certain or guaranteed outcome.
But as I have often wondered, how do you unearth something that has all but vanished? You run from your safe places, you unload the heavy burdens of misplaced desires (you throw off every encumbrance) and run the race set out before you and fight with everything you’ve got for the hearts of others that you encounter along your journey.
You give up the futile and fruitless attempts at “self-discovery” and instead earnestly seek to discover and uncover the dazzling uniqueness of those special people that enter your life. Only then will our true desires begin to sprout up from our hearts.
One of my favorite authors, John Eldredge, writes, “Desire reveals design, and design reveals destiny. In the case of human beings, our design is also revealed by our desires.”
In Journey of Desire, Eldredge reminds us that “Desire is always where the action is. However, staying alive to our desire is not enough…We must bring the truth into our hearts to guard and guide our desire…”
Psalms 37:4-5, says “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act.“
It has taken me a while to truly grasp what it means to Delight in the Lord, and I still struggle on the daily, but what I do know is that I can trust that God will fulfill my true desires when those desires are planted deep in my heart by God Himself.
Exploring the lush and majestic landscapes of Oahu while blazing through dirt trails was an incredible experience. While we were instructed to follow our tour guide, each twist and turn she took us on would unveil another captivating sight, different from the last. We blazed through the mud and remote valleys only to arrive to a new spot filled with radiant and indescribable beauty.
A call to venture out surged in my heart. I wondered what epic adventure God wanted to take me on? I resolved in that moment to say yes to the adventure, knowing full well there could be unexpected twists and turns, muddy trails, beautiful ascents, messy and overgrown brush, rocky terrain and of course exhilarating and soul-soaring moments. In short, the great unknown. Another surge of excitement rose within my heart.
I am ready. Here I come. I journey forth with breathless expectation.
