I am in a season of life right now where I am living through doing things that are not things I can do on my own. I was telling someone yesterday that I think this is the first time in my life where I am stepping out and doing something that I truly have to rely on God for help. Sure, I have done “tough” things but I am realizing that each time prior to this one I did them knowing that “I” could do it, or “we” could do it (my husband and I). For us adopting a child from Africa, and doing an independent adoption requires that we let go, and allow God to work. Don’t get me wrong, each adoption requires that, but I found for myself that if I have an agency that is doing the work on the other end, in my mind I am more relying on that agency than on God in it. We are also trusting that God is going to move mountains under a time constraint that can bring lots of worry if we sit in it for too long. We believe God is completely in control of it and are ready for whatever path He allows this journey to take.
I am also embarking on another task in this season of life that is scary, but something that God is calling me to do. It is something that I said not that long ago that I would never do, and something that I have to rely on God for leading, directing and long term success. It will only be successful if it is truly what He wants. It is a scary place to be some days. I have seen and felt the attack of Satan during this pursuit, which also tells me that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I am also fully aware on this journey of this task that God is in control and I am ready for whatever path He allows for this journey to take.
I found a little 30 daily readings booklet last week that was sent to us by Show Hope a few years ago. Day one of the daily readings is written by Steven Curtis Chapman and is titled “An Invitation to Adventure,” which interestingly is also what my pastor preached on yesterday … in Matthew 22 and the Parable of the wedding banquet and the invitation that God has sent us to His party. Steven Curtis Chapmen said in his piece, “There was nothing safe about God’s invitation. All adventures carry with them some level of excitement and hazard, and we cannot remain safe and comfortable and still go on a God-sized adventure. But God doesn’t call us to be safe. He calls us to be bold and courageous, and we can trust that even our safety will be taken care of by the One who invites us to bravely step out in faith. As C.S. Lewis says in the Chronicles of Narnia when speaking of Alsan, ‘Of course He isn’t safe, but He is good.’ It has been amazing to take God up on His invitation. And to think, if I had chosen to simply remain safe, I could’ve missed it. I could have missed HIM.”
Isn’t that good? Isn’t that what this adoption journey and other journeys that God calls us to are all about? God is sending you an invitation to adventure, you can accept or decline but you need to know that God will do His work whether you decide to accept or not. What adventure is God calling you to? Remember that true adventures require help from God. I don’t want you to miss out on adventures as I know I have for many years because I didn’t step out and do something that I knew I could not do on my own. One last message from the reading by Steven Curtis Chapman, “Do you really want to know God? Do you really want all He has for you, the abundant life He promised you? It may take getting a little uncomfortable, and it may take risking a little of what the world tells us to hold on to. But He is good, and what He has for us is worth far more than all that the world has to offer. Are you willing to step out boldly and follow Him wherever He may lead? What might that look like for you today?”
