I’m Not Made for Adventure, or Am I?
In Wild Goose Chase, Mark Batterson writes, “We try to reduce the will of God to the logical limits of our left brain. But the will of God is neither logical nor linear. It is down-right confusing and complicated. A part of us feels as if something is spiritually wrong with us when we experience circumstantial uncertainty…But circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: adventure.” (Chapter 1: page 2)
I am not an adventurous type. I don’t think I ever have been. I’d be willing to bet that when it came time for me to be born, I braced myself in my mother’s womb and hung on for dear life. Once I get comfortable, it’s hard to get me to budge. Even as a teenager, when handsome young men vied for the privilege of sitting next to me, I didn’t really want to ride the roller coasters. Even the merry-go-round made me dizzy.
The older I have gotten, the more set in my ways I have become. I dug my heels in and refused to text until we missed my son’s final little league pictures because we got the message too late. I argued relentlessly to keep my old slide-out cell phone until it broke, and I had no choice but to upgrade. . I refused to give up my Chrysler mini-van, even when my husband bought a nicer vehicle for me. I’m a big proponent of the old adage, “The better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know.”
I like to feel in control. I like to be prepared. I like to be in the familiar, in the comfortable, in the “know.”
Unfortunately, that’s not how the Lord works.
In the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones is trying to follow clues to find the Holy Grail. At one point, he is faced with the problem of how to cross a great expanse over a bottomless pit. The clue leads him to take a step. Finally, seeing no other option, he places his hand over his fearful heart, screws up his courage, sticks out a leg and steps. (Spoiler Alert) In that one “leap” of faith, his foot lands on a very well-camouflaged glass bridge.
That’s the kind of faith God wants. God wants us to admit that He is in control, but more than that, He wants us to step out in faith when He calls.
Batterson maintains that no matter how tamed we may appear to be, there is some part of us that longs to be “uncaged.”
“And the cage opens,” he says, “when we recognize that Jesus didn’t die on the cross to keep us safe. Jesus died to make us dangerous.” (Chapter 1: Page 6)
I’m not so sure about me. I am comfortable being comfortable. I don’t like being afraid. I don’t like taking risks. If I were Indiana Jones, I doubt I would have stepped out in that vast unknown. In fact, I probably would have never left my couch.
Still, I know that God has placed within me a desire to serve Him, not just in some mediocre way, but to really serve Him, to use the talents and passions He has given me to do great things for His kingdom. That sounds like an adventure, and adventures take courage.
Do I have the courage it takes to step out of my cage? What about you?
For this series, I am reading Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson. Purchase your own copy and read along with me.