We are called to walk with Jesus, not to run ahead.
This past summer, my family attended a mission trip. We helped to repair houses for some people who desperately needed help. We spent an entire week with other Christians.
We ate every meal with other Christians and publicly prayed before we ate. We openly talked about Jesus throughout all of our days. We wore crosses around our necks. We visited different churches for our meals and those people shared Christ with us.
We sang about Jesus each night and talked about seeing Him during the day. It was definitely a mountaintop week.
Then, we returned home. My hubby and I returned to work. Our lives got back to normal. Don’t get me wrong; our normal is perfectly fine, but when you spend a week doing God’s work alongside God’s people, normal just seems, I don’t know, kind of pointless. Shouldn’t I be doing more?
I was walking and praying about my frustration when I heard a hawk calling out. He was very close, but I couldn’t see him. I had been running and walking at a very fast pace as I looked for him. I slowed down and I heard him again. This time he was behind me.
When I turned around and slowly walked past a place I had already been, there he sat in a tree at my eye level. I stopped and He just sat there looking at me as if he had waited for me to find him. We stared at each other for a few minutes before he finally flew away.
I marveled at my encounter as I walked, not ran, home, and a thought formed deep inside my heart.
God has put me in this place at this moment for a specific reason. I don’t have to know or understand the what or the why of it. If I live my days focused on Jesus, nothing I do is pointless. When I try to run ahead, I miss seeing Him, just like I missed that hawk. But, when I slow down and seek Him, I mean really seek Him, He will always show Himself and let me know where I need to be.
I might feel like I’m more productive on the mountain top than I am simply walking along the beaten path, but if I trust Him and obey His call, I realize that in the end, that’s not for me to determine. That realization brings me great peace.
Perhaps you needed some peace today too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂