“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
⁃ Bilbo Baggins, The Lord of the Rings
Not every initial post of mine on this website will begin with a quote from J.R.R. Tolkien… but as he has written quite a few of my favorite books, it cannot be avoided
I believe this quote summarizes everyone’s life when they take a step to go outside the door. Some might think only when you take a step in an unknown direction, but it is even if you’re taking a step you have made for many days, months or years of your life. You never know where God is going to take you or what He is going to let occur.
I have seen this true in my life, and at times very unexpected and not intended. I have accused my parents (in a humorous way) of starting this process. When I was just two to four years old we lived in Taiwan because my dad was working for IBM. Then it occurred again when I took time off from college to do a DTS (Discipleship Training School) with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) that led me to Taiwan, Cambodia and China. That was (unfortunately) followed with three months in the hospitals of Asheville and Charlotte, North Carolina… and then over five years in Savannah, Georgia… which was followed by six years in Denver, Colorado.
And now I’m off to Australia! I love travel, and I am so thankful I get to go around the world to see new places and do new things. Honestly though, I admit I am fearful about this next “step” in my life—as I am not sure what is going to happen—but I pray the Lord uses that time, however long I’m there for, for His glory.
In this post, I just wanted to write about a recent devotional I read and how applicable it seems in my life. It is titled “Irresistible Guidance” in Walk With God on August 29. It begins with examples from the Bible of where God has led people to the place He wanted them to go, whether they wanted to follow Him or not. The examples include Jonah, who initially headed in a total different direction than where God had told him to go, unfortunately spent some time in the belly of a whale (which you know is to be expected of course), and ended up where God had meant for him to be the whole time. Or Paul when he tried to head to the Asia Minor, but the Holy Spirit would not let him, which led to where he was needed (Acts 16:6-10).
It says “So it is with our plans. We determine the direction we want to take, and God intervenes. Sometimes it is even a godly direction, as in Paul’s attempts to evangelize in Asia Minor. But if God really wants to accomplish something, and our plans do not fit His purposes, His purposes win. He will intervene. Human will cannot thwart His overarching plan.”
And I see this to be true in my life. When I was about to graduate from SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design), it dawned on me— I could work for YWAM and do graphic design for them! That made total sense—God had wanted me to use my undergrad degree to be with YWAM again! I was so excited to use my studies from the past years for His glory. Phew, now I see—that was His purpose the whole time, and what all my previous work and studies had been for.
Yet, a seizure while driving, which led for me to drive into a nearby building, hindered that plan. That was not quite pleasant, but I know now that God had to make it pretty obvious that I was not to go there. And then just a few months later I felt like applying to a seminary that had a degree I was inquisitive about studying. God again led me through years of studying, except for this time on a subject I would love to do for others—spiritual direction. The whole time I had no idea what for, but I just felt it might have been in God’s plan… maybe?
And now it seems He is leading me in the direction He wanted me to go the entire time, but just needed for me to gain a little more knowledge and insight before endeavoring on it. He must have wanted for me to do things with and for YWAM, but 2012 was not the right time. I needed to learn a little more on how to serve the church and with other believers. I was to know how to deepen my own faith, as well as encourage others to do so as well. And I even could use some skills in design work as well!
This does not at all mean that I am done with my studies. It is not as if I have “graduated” from everything God wants me to know. Far from it. I know we are to learn more things from God all throughout our lives—and in fact every day. We are just to “trust God’s guidance, even when you’re unsure of it. He will fulfill His plan. Open your heart to go wherever He takes you, and let Him lead.”
And James gives us the right perspective. “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say. ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” (James 4:14-15, ESV)