ONE OF MY BIGGEST JOY FACTORS

A major thing happened to me on my way to heaven. I learned a hard lesson. However, once I learned it I can't (won't) let go of it. Oh, I am not the ideal icon of its truth....I just know it is true.

Here's my elemental discovery which affects everything I approach in kingdom matters: God operates off of incredible mystery. Jesus praised Him once for revealing such to babes. How does one remain in the church for years with a perpetual smile stretched between his or her ears? Love the mystery of God.

I can't explain everything. Now I get it I can't explain hardly anything; and this is the nature of faith-full leadership. Jesus said (Mark 4:26-27) "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts up and grows---HOW, HE HIMSELF DOES NOT KNOW." The very sower of the seed operates in ultimate clueless-land.

In Acts 12 the revelation of Peter tightly locked down in prison persuades all on-lookers that the best of escape artists could not break such bonds. The matter is reasonably impossible. Yet an angel of the Lord shows up with neither explanation nor description and releases the supposed felon. Of Peter going through the reality it is said, "he did not know what was being done".

And then the leader of the term called faith, Abraham, began to follow the call of the Lord. Of this great adventurer of faith it says in Hebrews 11:8, "and he went out not knowing where he was going".

The flesh part of Christians wants explanations and oft demands understanding. Thus, we often go nowhere because we are still waiting on some divine GPS to give us respectable and reasonable guidance. We are stuck.

The breakthrough comes when we "go" not knowing how or where or why to go. We sense His call and can't explain it. Often it will feel to be against our gut insight. For me to pack up and go off to preaching school was absurd...even in my own mind and surely in those of all of my friends. It was a ridiculous move.

Later, to move to Memorial Drive was against everything my being could arouse as wise except for one thing; I believed God was calling me. My faith won over my fear.

One of my biggest joy factors is trusting God when He knows full-well I don't have a clue about the map nor the instructions that accompany it.