Getting a grasp on adventure
The journey is the adventure!
“And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look northward from the place where you are, then southward and eastward and westward, for I shall give to you and to your seed forever all the land that you see.” Genesis 13:14-15
There are times in our lives where a desire or a dream is placed within our heart. With excitement, we embrace it and with expectation we look for it to come quickly to pass. Yet we are unaware of the journey and the path that will take us there. We all want the path of least resistance but without resistance, nothing is built within us, and the resilience is not produced. Even beyond the building of resilience, there is one thing that the Lord is after…. It’s you! He is after you! He is passionately in pursuit of you! He loves you and yearns for a heart to heart relationship with you.
The most important thing is not the dream or promise it’s the journey. In the journey, we have this incredible opportunity set before us with every step to move closer and closer to the Creator of the universe and the Lover of our soul. He desires that we would climb so close to Him that we are nose to nose with Him - consumed with Him and by Him. Stepping into Him and becoming one with Him. He is an all consuming Fire of Love that is pure and holy - reviving and refreshing - not religious - but desiring a real relationship.
Think of a time when you were in the intense heat. A time when you were so parched, and hot all you could think about was crystal clear pure water, so parched and thirsty not only did you want a tall drink of clean cold water but you were so dry and dehydrated you wanted to dive into it and be totally saturated from the inside out. This is the desperate longing the Lord wants you to have for Him because this is the intense Love He has for you and even greater.
In this journey is where the two of you develop a Divine romance where He teaches you Who He is and Who you are having come from Him. Like Jacob, in the book of Genesis, you come to a place of face to face struggle with Whose you are and who you are. You come face to face with the lies you've been living and encounter your true identity in Pure Love - that satisfies and produces eternal life. Unlike the thirst for water, this Love is never quenched, the desire to go deeper is always there and yet satisfies every cry within your heart.
The dream and promise are an end-result, but the journey is the gift. With every dream and hope comes the process. He is cultivating the soil of your heart for the planting of true Love that it will flourish and grow and not be choked out by the weeds of life. So that when the dream and promise are reached it will not pull your heart's affections away from Him. When we behold Him we are left in complete awe of Who He is and left totally undone - knowing that everything and everyone else in this life could never replace Him - so in Love - so consumed by Him.
During the journey when our focus is on the promise or dream rather than Him - we can misinterpret and misunderstand the process and think the journey of perseverance is punishment. Unlike their father Jacob, Israel, the children of Israel did not understand.
In the book of Genesis, it shares the story of Jacob and the process of Jacob’s promise. He was learning the true relationship of love and trust with the One, Who created him. With great wrestling during the process Jacob developed a real heart knowledge of the Lord, coming face to face with Him forever changing his identity to Israel - contender of God - because he prevailed. Whatever Jacob’s hands touched prospered and yet he was surrounded by the pressure of opposition from those near him. Many today would think that the wealth he obtained was “living the life” but the dream and promise the Lord had for him and for us far exceeds the monetary needs and desires of this life. He wants to give us relationship and His inheritance that transcends time that is fading but an inheritance that lasts forever - is eternal. Fairy tales often end with the phrase “and they lived happily ever after.” It’s not a fairy tale there is a happily ever after and it’s called eternity with Him. And Jacob, Israel, not only saw this he stepped into it. WOW! A dream - a promise that is not temporary but it NEVER ends!
The children of Israel, where given a promise - a dream. While in the wilderness, they did not understand that the process of the promise was to bring them to the place of knowing the Dream Giver, the Lord Himself. They complained and cried so much refusing to hear Him. They did not understand that He was bypassing their wants to give them their desires. So often we think we want something, but He sees past our wants into our true desires.
Have you ever been in an emotional place where you want chocolate? Have you ever been in a place of deep pain and you want a drink or a drug? He wants to by-pass your wants and give you the deepest desires of your heart, Love, pure unconditional Love - Him.
In the beginning, we may be given a promise or a dream embracing it in the belief that we can do it or that He will do it - holding on to it. In the process of the dream and promise we go from a faith that holds on to it - to trust that places it back into His hands knowing He will keep His word and bring it to pass.
Abraham went from a faith that holds on to the promise of Isaac to trust, letting go placing the promise on the alter. He completely trusted knowing Father would keep His promise - through his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed.
In Hebrew, the word faith is actually trust. What is trust? Trust is knowing you are in a safe place, and that comes from real Love and real relationship. Very simply put He wants to have a relationship with you so that you come to know Him and know that He is safe, and you can trust Him. He will never leave or betray you, and He keeps His word. You may not know how or when because He wants you to trust Him. He wants you to know that He is good even when you don’t understand.
Where you have become discouraged, depressed and have lost hope - don't’ settle for the mundane. No matter where you are, no matter what you’ve done or haven’t done, no matter how long it has been. IT IS NOT TO LATE! This is part of your story, part of your journey and part of the process. He created time to draw a line and bring an end to separation from Him so that we could step into eternity that has no end. It is not ’TO LATE’. Genesis 21:5 says that Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born. In Judges, Samson’s blindness gave him sight, and his captivity positioned him for his purpose. He will redeem and restore!
So look up! He is reaching toward you and as far as your eyes can see He has given it to you!
So what do your eyes see? Let your journey be an adventure!
Sandra Fullilove
EquippedForPurpose.com