Life, the Ultimate Journey

Lately ive been on a journey. Not only one in my mind, but, unusually, one in my life as well. For those that dont know, ive lived in the same place my entire life. Theres always been that inclination to leave, to adventure, to see the world, and it may finally be coming to fruition.

About 2 or 3 months ago, I felt a calling on my heart from God to go to NYC for school and to serve. Now, I have debated for hours on end whether that was just my wish, to go to NY, or if it was literally a calling from God. Ill have you know that NYC has been the place ive wanted to go to my entire adolescent life. Its where I see our culture shift fastest. Its where the worlds businesses are run. Its where terrorists target to get the most effect. And i imagine myself being in a place like that with a savior like Christ. The only savior who has the ability to save a lost and hurting world. If he is needed anywhere, he is needed in the big cities of our world. He is needed where change can be affected quickest.

Not to say that He is not needed anywhere else, to steal a phrase from Timothy Keller, "Churches(God, Christians, etc.) are needed wherever there are people."

So I find myself on the edge, waiting for the opportunities to align themselves, and to see where this journey called life takes me. To go off on a different path, I do find it striking that non-believers call life a journey too, for you can only be on a "journey" if your going somewhere, ultimately. And if we are both journeying somewhere, I have a feeling the Christian's journey ends better. So, even those who do not believe they are ultimately going somewhere still call it a journey (ie. the stereotypical adolescent teenager, of which I am part). Yet, I call this life a wonderful journey because my final destination is set. And because I know my final destination that leads me to believe that each day I live is a chance to change the world for the better. Each day brings a plethora of opportunities with it. Each day is a gift from God. I call life a journey because in the end, I know that wherever I wind up, whether my circumstances be good or bad, that God is leading me home, one step at a time. So, no matter what happens to me in this life, the only way it can go is up. And that, to me, is as uplifting a thought as you will find.

So to address my earlier statement, I still struggle with whether it was God or me that wanted to go to NYC. Timothy Keller has really helped me in this regard. In an online youtube post, he stated a process by which you can know you are called. Its called AAO. Affinity, Ability, and Opportunity. If you have the Affinity - the desire, if you have the Ability - permission, health, etc, and if you have the Opportunity, then you can pretty much chalk it down as a calling from God. And I wish to touch on point one just a bit before I move on. In my opinion, sometimes our own desires, our own affinities, are a glimpse of something He put inside of us. So don't write your desires off as selfish or un-important if they are just that, your desires. Its my belief that God put them there for a reason.

Having established all this to say that, 1. life is a journey, 2. life is better when God is involved, 3. my life is changing, I still hope, not disregarding what I have said above, that God is completely involved in the transition. I will be going to a place in NYC where I know no one. No friends, no family, if anything, it will be the toughest challenge of my life. And I will literally have to hold the hand that feeds to give me strength. Yet, it could be good in this regard. Literally forcing me to rely solely on God for strength and power and sustenance.

So as I wander into unknown territory, I hope that you can take heart in the fact that God is always there for you. And if me and you never get our hearts desires to adventure, and to live an exciting and full life, may our prayer be that of Paris Reidhead,

"Lord Jesus, I'm gonna obey You and love You and serve You and do what You want me to do, as long as I live even if I go to hell at the end of the road, simply because You are worthy to be loved, obeyed and served. And I'm not trying to make a deal with You."
-Paris Reidhead

Peace and Love