I’ve been growing accustomed to a journey filled with bends in the road that I can’t see beyond. It’s been a faith walk the past few years into things unimagined and unforseen even. And most days I’d tell you I’m not so sure where I’m going so much as just learning to follow the rabbit trails that point me the direction that God is calling. I’m not so much of a super planner anyways, but the more I learn to walk curiously, the more I find myself in placed I’d never even considered going at all.
But in this road I’m traveling, I see easily how rabbit trails can turn into a rat race. How we think we see what could be beyond, so we veer off course and instead of following God, we begin to pursue a seen end.
I tend to think though that the rat race is really just a mouse trap.
I tend to avoid political discussion here in this space. I refrain from becoming self-indulgent to engage in social commentary. It’s not that I shy away from it, so much as don’t feel called into the arguing or the point proving. That to me feels like a veering off track for me personally, but I have had a thought over the past few weeks that I think God is calling me into that is a part of this journey of curious faith. It’s the thought that…
“Sometimes I will make seemingly bad business decisions to make good Kingdom ones.”
That’s not to say that I will be foolish, but it is to say that if God is behind anything that I’m doing…if I’m following something that I believe He has asked me to walk into, then it’s really as simple as either I trust Him or I don’t.
If I trust God, and trust that I’m walking hard after Him, then I don’t need to worry about how sometimes I might make a decision that seems upside down to the world. It’s what my friend Ann Voskamp calls the Upside Down Kingdom. It’s putting the Lord and the things of His heart first and not striving.
Ecclesiastes 4:4 says, “Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.”
I don’t want to get caught in the winds of envy of others that blow me off course. I don’t want to get sucked into a rat race that traps me. I just want to follow Jesus wherever that takes me…and if that means that sometimes I’ll seem foolish to this world, then so be it.
Oh friend…”walk curiously” I love that. It’s trusting and expectant. It’s how we need to walk. The older I get the less of a planner I am and these thoughts are so comforting…knowing I don’t have to be to thrive. Thank you for sharing this. Such a blessing to me!
There’s more where that came from Jessica! Walking curiously is the theme of my life the past few years…and it has landed me placed I’d never have dreamed!
I am grateful for your example, leadership, and challenge, Logan.
Deb Weaver
thank you sweet friend! And I am grateful for your friendship and encouragement!
Oh, those bends in the road! I find that God only ever shows me the next right step, hardly ever hands me a detailed map to the road ahead. Thinking I’ve got it all figured out only leads to rabbit trails.. and the rat race… and mouse traps, as you say. Thanks for the reminder that we don’t have to get on that highway to be headed in the right direction.
I think Jesus often travelled off the beaten path…they usually have the best views anyhow!
This read came to me at a very interesting time. I just got back from a 2 mile walk, and in that walk, I was contemplating the next steps of a journey that I am on. I quit my job of 25 years in a downturn economy to follow where I believe God has called me, which is to become an educator. I just completed a 2 month long term sub job and am in my 2nd semester working towards a MAT in Special Education. Almost everyone that I know, called me a lunatic. I have absolutely no idea where I am going to end up, but I am determined to do the work and be faithful that God will place me where I can be part of his Kingdom work. I appreciate what you said about not following into the rat race, it can be so easy to veer off course and get trapped in the muck. Again, this post came to me at a very interesting time. I rarely read tweets, or for that matter open them up to learn more. Glad that I did, as I was inspired to continue this meditation.
I love this Jim! So glad you stopped by! And I’ll be the first to tell you that not knowing where you’re going, but knowing that God is good and is in it…makes for a pretty exhillirating ride of life! Heaps of blessings on you as you journey!