Would You Like to Go on An Adventure with God?

Would You Like To Go On An Adventure?

I was browsing a Virginia Beach yard sale on a Saturday morning, fresh coffee in hand, when I noticed it. Propped up against a wooden table was a tacky, 1970’s painting of a sail boat framed in that iconic, pea-brown wood that thankfully perished with the 70’s. The quote read, “If you want to reach new horizons, you have to lose sight of the shore.” That was me, I thought. I am about to lose sight of the shore. A few days earlier, I had stood outside my bosses’ door trembling from head to toe. I was about to walk into her office and inform her that I would going to Africa for two months. Either I would be granted a leave of absence, or I would leave my job; either way, I was going.

I had been feeling unfulfilled in my career and stagnant in my relationship with God for quite some time. I earnestly cried out to God for deeper heart change and to walk in His purposes. God always answers the sincere cry of His children. He graciously assured me that He would do it, but I could not make it happen. He would engineer the circumstances.

So there I was, frozen in fear and indecision, when a coworker walked up holding a book out to me. “Hey, I wanted to give you this.” Barely conscious of her words, I numbly glanced down at the book. I could not believe my eyes. The title of the book was,"If You Want To Walk On Water, You Have To Get Out Of The Boat," by John Ortberg. I chucked with relief. God is funny. How generous and kind to give me that nudge. He is tender with us in our weakness.

In the Lord of the Rings, Gandalf comes to the Shire where he finds Bilbo Baggins. With a mischievous twinkle in his eye, he looks down upon the hobbit and says, “I am looking for someone to go on an adventure.” In answer to my prayer, God came and asked me to go on an adventure with Him. When I complained about the intense pressures that I began to encounter, He gently reminded me of my prayer for change. Now I must trust Him. Little by little, everything in which I had placed my security and identity was systematically dismantled and discarded. It would be several years of darkness, loss, and pressure that would have sent me running in the opposite direction had I known. But God had a beautiful purpose in it all.

Often, God sustains us with a word or promise to anchor us during tumultuous season. The book of Ruth was that anchor for me. Ruth, a Moabite widow, had lost everything dear to her. Against this backdrop, she sets out on a journey from Moab to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law, Naomi, and her sister-in-law, Orpah. Along the way Naomi repeatedly urged them to go back to their homes. She saw no future for them with her in Bethlehem, only heartache and lack.

At the outset of the journey, both young women cried and kissed Naomi saying that they would not leave her. Sadly, Orpah succumbed to the pressure and turned back towards Moab. But Ruth was after much more than comfort and earthly blessing. Ruth was after the heart of God. In the face of lack, hardship, and isolation, Ruth continued away from all that was familiar.

Interestingly, Moab means, “Who is your father?” I believe that her devotion sprung from a hunger to know this God of the Hebrews, who she must have heard about from her Hebrew husband. True purpose springs from identity, and true identity is found in knowing God the Father. Just as earthly fathers impart purpose and destiny by affirming who we are as individuals, so too our Heavenly Father imparts destiny as He speaks our name and purpose over us. We belong to Him. Hungry for purpose and identify, Ruth left all to go to Bethlehem, meaning “House of Bread.” Bread satisfies. Knowing God satisfies. God never wastes a word.

When God invites us on a journey in answer to the cries of our heart, it costs us something. It is very hard not to turn back to "dry land", to cling to something stable, predictable. The last and final time that Naomi urged Ruth to go back, Ruth wrapped Naomi in a bear hug and held on with all of her heart. Scripture says that Ruth “clave” to Naomi. To cleave means “to cling, closely pursue, to join together, to fasten upon, remain steadfast.” Many times it appeared that going back was the smart thing to do; all my friends and family were urging me, even demanding at times, that I go back. Only God seemed to be saying "Keep going. Trust me. I got this."

In this beautiful image I found the key to endurance. Cleave. To make it, I would have to wrap God in a big bear hug with all my mind, heart, and spirit... and not let go for anything. I could allow no distance between us. There is a big difference between one who kisses, and one who cleaves. God is able to strengthen the one who cleaves to Him.

The end of the story is that Ruth walked into great destiny, becoming an ancestor to the Messiah, the Promised One of Israel. For me, in this new place, I heard Him speak my name over me, and entered deeper into destiny and true purpose. He is worth the wait. I have never known such inner freedom, purpose, and joy. And yet, standing in this new place, if I peer hard into the distance, I think I see more adventure just up ahead.

As we cleave to the Lord with all that we are, He strengthens us on our journey to a place of deeper satisfaction in knowing Him. And if by chance we turn back like Orpah, (which I did at one point), or climb back into the boat, we can always start again. His Father heart considers our weakness, and His mercies are tender and kind.

So if you are crying out to God for more, and He comes to you with a little twinkle in His eye and says, “I am looking for someone to go on an adventure”, then by all means, go.

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