An Adventure Part Two!

"Fear thou not;
for I am
with thee:
be not dismayed;
for I am
thy God:
I will
strengthen thee;
yea, I will
help thee;
yea, I will
uphold thee
with the right hand
of my righteousness."
Isaiah 41:10

Last week in my post, “An Adventure, Part One”, I shared about the grandiose adventure of Brian and I following after smoke signals which we spotted in the sky!!  After driving for almost two hours, much to our surprise, our adventure ended in somewhat of a “dead end”.  

But we were on an adventure!

I also shared how I saw this adventure in two different ways spiritually.  Last week I shared the first way and today I'd like to share how the Lord showed me how to apply this particular adventure in a second spiritual way in my life.

Last week, I talked about us being the ones who orchestrate the adventures in our own life.

But sometimes the Lord is the One Who takes us on an adventure in our life.  Or maybe a better word would be a journey since the circumstances aren’t always easy and it doesn’t feel much like an adventure!

He brings something into our lives, which totally catch us by surprise.

Howbeit, NOTHING EVER catches Him off guard!

"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:"
Isaiah 46:9-10

As He takes us along on this particular journey, there are many treks up and down hills, curves in the road and even potholes that we never expected.

And as the days turn into weeks and sometimes even months or years, and if we are honest enough to voice our questions, they may sound a little bit like these…

Does the Lord really know what He is doing?

Does He really see me?

Does He really care?

We continue on this journey not knowing when, where or how it will end.

We find ourselves totally overcome with the circumstances and we feel as if we are literally caught in the midst of a burning fire and we can't catch our breath.

They say that when you are caught in a fire that you are to

STOP

DROP

AND

ROLL

Well, we need to do something similar.

We need to

STOP

DROP TO OUR KNEES

AND

PRAY

"Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah."  Psalm 62:8

The verse says to "pour out your heart before him."

Which means we may tell Him we don't understand what He is doing, that we are confused by what He is doing, and that we don't necessarily like what He is doing (just being honest with Him, He already knows what we're thinking anyway!!)

The verse also says, "trust in him at all times"

Which means we also get to the point where we tell Him that despite the circumstances we currently find ourselves in, that we KNOW He loves us far beyond anything we can even begin to fathom and we TOTALLY trust Him.

After all, He did shed His blood for us on the cross at Calvary so that we could be forgiven of our sins, have a personal relationship with Him, and one day spend all eternity in Heaven with Him, IF we come to know Him as our personal Saviour.  And that right there is enough to show His boundless love for you and for me and cause us to TOTALLY trust Him!  

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8  

If that isn't love...

And slowly but surely, we begin to see a small, ever so subtle clearing amidst the smoke.

We begin to sense God’s presence hovering ever so near to us.

As we begin to shift our focus on HIM and away from the flames, smoke and fire, we hear Him whisper to us, “All is well my child.  I have everything under My control, and I never once left your side, and I never ever will."

"Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?  But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows."  Luke 12:6-7

Does that mean that all of our circumstances and trials are instantaneously changed and all is "hunky-dorey"?

NO!

Oh, don't get me wrong, the Lord could absolutely change any and all situations, if that's what He chooses to do.

He can do anything He wants simply because He is God!

"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?"  Jeremiah 32:27

BUT GOD likes to use that word that so many of us HIGHLY dislike!

And what is that word????

Because the Lord knows that through TIME, He can mold us and transform us more into what He desires us to be … if we allow Him to!

If He "fixed" every situation immediately, how would we ever grow in our Christian life?  

How would we ever be prepared to successfully handle the next adventure/journey which He has prepared for us?  

How would we ever experience the JOY of allowing God to make us more into the image of His precious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ?  

How would we ever be an effective witness to those who desperately need to know that there is HOPE in Christ?

"But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."  Job 23:10

Just like the firefighter lady told Brian and I when we got to the end of our “fire adventure”, "You do not need to be concerned, we have everything under control.”

Well I don't know about you, but if I can trust a firefighter lady, I can definitely trust my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, when He says to me, “Barb, I got this all under My control.  Don’t keep looking at the fire, smoke and flames.  Just keep your eyes turned towards Me and trust in My timing.”

Okay this is straight from my heart to yours!  

I don't like watching mystery movies or mystery television shows because I don't like waiting until the end to find out if it was Colonel Mustard in the library with the candlestick who committed the crime (that's a reference to the board game Clue for those of you who had no "clue" what I was talking about!).  

When Brian is attempting to explain something to me which he is in the process of building, I cannot picture it in my mind.  I need to either see the actual building or have him draw something similar on a sheet of paper.  I am definitely a visual learner.  

I don't like to be "kept in the dark" about things, and I don't care for surprises!

I'm one of those who will read the last chapter of a book just to see how it ends even before I read the first few pages!!  

So add all that together and you are right when you come to the conclusion that I am still in the "learning process" of all that I wrote about today!!  

Yes, I have been saved for MANY YEARS, and you would think that I would have this "completely trusting the Lord thing" down pat by now.

But it seems like I take ten steps forward and then six steps backwards!  

Can anyone else relate? 

But the Lord is patient and so very longsuffering and is continuing to teach me day by day.  

And I'm so glad
He never
gives up on me!

"Father, I'm thankful as I wrote today's post and the one for last week, that I could laugh about the adventure that Brian and I had as I thought back to that day of chasing those smoke signals and how it all turned out.  It was a great memory-making day for us.  But even more so, it was two great spiritual lessons for me.  I pray, Lord, that You will take these words that You gave to me today and use them to help others as they lay their burdens at your feet and choose to turn their eyes upon You.  In Jesus Name, Amen."

Lord, may we all be found doing exactly what the song says... 

 

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May God Bless You,

Barb