What a journey! Uphill. Around the bend. Through the tunnel. And across the finish line with hands raised!
It’s like a snapshot of my spiritual journey with Christ (minus the “complete/finish ling” part).
Those early baby steps were taken with Grandparents who knew God and loved Him. They talked to Him. Talked about Him. And introduced me to the idea of God.
Later on during “go play outside” days, I rode my bike with neighbors. Neighbors that loved God. Neighbors that invited me to church events like VBS (vacation Bible school) where I learned about sin, and Jesus, and how one covered the other. And how I could ask Jesus to come into my heart. Neighbors who took me to church camp where I learned more about God’s words written down in the Bible. Where I could listen to people who could explain what the words meant. Where I could understand how Jesus wanted to be my Savior and my Friend.
Through my teens and 20s God brought a lady that had dedicated her life to Jesus. She didn’t just have a Savior, and Friend in Jesus, she had a Lord over her life that she served every day. She was wise and fun and generously spent time showing me what it was like to follow Jesus, belong to a spiritual family, and serve God with my time and my talents.
That’s only the beginning of my spiritual journey. But all of these steps were important. The people were significant. They all showed me a piece of God’s love. A truth about how I could know Him. And they pointed me toward the way to have a personal relationship with Jesus.
I am not so dependent on others to help grow in my relationship with God now. I’ve grown up enough to spend time with the Lord on my own and put His wisdom into practice. I serve the Lord at work, at home, in the community, essentially giving back to Him what He has given me.
Best of all God has given me the opportunity and passion to help other people start their own relationship with Him, just like people did with me.
I don’t have a perfect life, I have a perfect Lord. My days are uphill. Around the bend which makes me trust God more, (because I can’t see where I’m going to end up). Some days send me crawling through the tunnels of pain and grief, but they are protected and surrounded by sturdy walls of hope, and love, and placed on a firm foundation of peace with God that carries me through to the light on the other side. And yes, I have loads of joy-filled, celebration worthy, happy feet dancing days too.
I expect that my journey is a lot like yours. I pray that yours is a lot like mine, in that, you’re journey is with Jesus. Not a pit-stop that you made somewhere along the way, got everything up and running, and then carried on by yourself kind of journey. I’m talking about a “best travel companion ever”, “wouldn’t think of taking a step without Him” journey. Click here to get started, or send me a message (lisa@gc3.org).
This Lent season has given me a great excuse to put into words how invaluable He is to me, and how I would not want to journey without Him. I’m so thankful for the struggle and so much more thankful that I’ve finally learned it’s not about where you’re going, it’s about who your going with.
