The Journey in The Quest
I've been pretty quiet lately. Life has had its way of late. You know, those moments that turn into hours, which inevitably turn into days, then eventually weeks become, well, ultimately they become longer than you anticipated? Yes, those. There's an old adage that says something along these lines -"The road of life is paved with good intentions," and yet another that says, "Life is what happens while you are making other plans." I don't know about you, but wouldn't it be nice if life just calmed down for a moment and let you have a say in it?!
I recently finished a six week Bible Study called, The Quest, by Beth Moore. Ironically, the first day of this study was also a day that was immensely difficult for my husband, and in turn, me. For preservation's sake, I will not share the details of it, but know it was a storm that we did not want to weather and assuredly worked to negotiate any possible outcome that would prevent its occurrence. Again, life. During the course of the study, where we essentially walked through God's work in other people's (Biblical characters) lives, we grew to understand that our own life is a quest to grow closer to him, that each circumstance we encounter is a way to grow up and grow stronger in relationship to Christ. And, truth be told, that quest is often more breathtaking than the shortcut we'd have chosen for ourselves.
To say the irony of this study and the timing it had for this current storm was uncanny, would be to downplay its significance and my own learning during the course of the six weeks. You see, God doesn't do a single thing half way. Not a one. And yes, that even means orchestrating a Bible study to coincide with the timeline life has for you in a season. Like I said, this study began the day OF a specific event. In the weeks that followed we (by we, I mean me. Only me.) anxiously (anxiously is a very small word to the hot mess I was) awaited the outcome of that day. But God.
Oh, that He would know exactly what was needed, yet again, baffles me and encourages me. He didn't allow for an outcome during the course of that study. He allowed for the messy, often times ugly, heartwrenching, debilitating, and down-right excruciating circumstance to take a full seven weeks. Seven. At the onset of the quest, I delivered ugly, ugly offerings to him. I begged and pleaded for prayer, sometimes without specifics, other times with. (After all, prayer works!) One thing I did during this quest, that I hadn't done in years, is to begin writing out my feelings. Daily. On actual paper! Every time I began to get overwhelmed, frustrated, angry, sad, and any other emotion therein, I wrote. On that same sheet of paper I also kept a list of prayer requests that others would post, and if there was space, I jotted notes from my daily devotional.
Wouldn't you know, that somewhere around week 4.5 I began to enjoy the quest this season had us in? (By enjoy, I mean I had peace.) No, not because I was assured of the outcome, but because I was assured of my Jesus. Somehow, He got through this thick skull of mine and reminded me of who He is and that He most certainly could mind any and all gaps. (How quickly storms can remove our memories of His abilities.) Also, somewhere around that time, different events came into play that brought us full circle to what we attempted to do to prevent the day from occurring in the first place. And progress began. Something like a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Or close to it!
Then, out of the blue, just as we were getting ready to enjoy the long holiday weekend, we received the answer from that day. (In case you were wondering it was exactly one week and a day from the end of the study.) You guys, God, and only God could have foreseen the outcome. In light of what has transpired, forward progress can yet again commence. (As if it had ever stopped.) We can move through this next season with a small bit more clarity and even a smidgeon of understanding and do what is right for those involved. However, I need to caution you to the true moral of this post.
God is always on time. He takes us on long, twisty, hard journeys sometimes because there are things we need to learn not only about him but ourselves. There are things about who we are that he has to work through, to get our thinking in line with his thinking, which ultimately makes the quest all that more beautiful and special. It makes this thing called life a little less Disney and a lot more Netflix, but none-the-less, it is oh so very purposeful and necessary. After all, doesn't God often use the long, dusty road to Emmaus to show us who He really is and who we were meant to be?
Where is he leading you, today?
-M
I recently finished a six week Bible Study called, The Quest, by Beth Moore. Ironically, the first day of this study was also a day that was immensely difficult for my husband, and in turn, me. For preservation's sake, I will not share the details of it, but know it was a storm that we did not want to weather and assuredly worked to negotiate any possible outcome that would prevent its occurrence. Again, life. During the course of the study, where we essentially walked through God's work in other people's (Biblical characters) lives, we grew to understand that our own life is a quest to grow closer to him, that each circumstance we encounter is a way to grow up and grow stronger in relationship to Christ. And, truth be told, that quest is often more breathtaking than the shortcut we'd have chosen for ourselves.
To say the irony of this study and the timing it had for this current storm was uncanny, would be to downplay its significance and my own learning during the course of the six weeks. You see, God doesn't do a single thing half way. Not a one. And yes, that even means orchestrating a Bible study to coincide with the timeline life has for you in a season. Like I said, this study began the day OF a specific event. In the weeks that followed we (by we, I mean me. Only me.) anxiously (anxiously is a very small word to the hot mess I was) awaited the outcome of that day. But God.
Oh, that He would know exactly what was needed, yet again, baffles me and encourages me. He didn't allow for an outcome during the course of that study. He allowed for the messy, often times ugly, heartwrenching, debilitating, and down-right excruciating circumstance to take a full seven weeks. Seven. At the onset of the quest, I delivered ugly, ugly offerings to him. I begged and pleaded for prayer, sometimes without specifics, other times with. (After all, prayer works!) One thing I did during this quest, that I hadn't done in years, is to begin writing out my feelings. Daily. On actual paper! Every time I began to get overwhelmed, frustrated, angry, sad, and any other emotion therein, I wrote. On that same sheet of paper I also kept a list of prayer requests that others would post, and if there was space, I jotted notes from my daily devotional.
Wouldn't you know, that somewhere around week 4.5 I began to enjoy the quest this season had us in? (By enjoy, I mean I had peace.) No, not because I was assured of the outcome, but because I was assured of my Jesus. Somehow, He got through this thick skull of mine and reminded me of who He is and that He most certainly could mind any and all gaps. (How quickly storms can remove our memories of His abilities.) Also, somewhere around that time, different events came into play that brought us full circle to what we attempted to do to prevent the day from occurring in the first place. And progress began. Something like a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Or close to it!
Then, out of the blue, just as we were getting ready to enjoy the long holiday weekend, we received the answer from that day. (In case you were wondering it was exactly one week and a day from the end of the study.) You guys, God, and only God could have foreseen the outcome. In light of what has transpired, forward progress can yet again commence. (As if it had ever stopped.) We can move through this next season with a small bit more clarity and even a smidgeon of understanding and do what is right for those involved. However, I need to caution you to the true moral of this post.
God is always on time. He takes us on long, twisty, hard journeys sometimes because there are things we need to learn not only about him but ourselves. There are things about who we are that he has to work through, to get our thinking in line with his thinking, which ultimately makes the quest all that more beautiful and special. It makes this thing called life a little less Disney and a lot more Netflix, but none-the-less, it is oh so very purposeful and necessary. After all, doesn't God often use the long, dusty road to Emmaus to show us who He really is and who we were meant to be?
Where is he leading you, today?
-M
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