<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there\u201d (Acts 20:22).<\/p>\n
IN SECULAR AFFAIRS, WE USUALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT\u2019S GOING TO HAPPEN. Much of our planning is based on prediction: how can we be prepared if we don\u2019t know what events we\u2019ll have to deal with? And so we expend a lot of energy trying to forecast the future. A successful and safe journey, we think, depends on having a map of the exact territory we\u2019ll be passing through. And not only do we try to forecast the future, but we try to control it. As much as possible, we want to pick our itinerary for ourselves.<\/p>\n
In spiritual affairs, however, we have to learn a different kind of security. As Andrew Dhuse said, \u201cGod\u2019s will is not an itinerary but an attitude.\u201d We aren\u2019t told what the future holds. The journey may take us along any number of different routes, none of which we can predict or be prepared for. So no map is given to us, only a Compass, and we\u2019re to be content to be guided by God.<\/p>\n
In the course of doing the Lord\u2019s work, Paul needed to go to Jerusalem, where there might be danger. But Paul could live with uncertainty. With his heart fixed on God, he didn\u2019t need to know what was going to happen: \u201cI go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abraham is another example of how this works. Comfortable in Ur, Abraham was called upon to let go of the familiar, predictable path he\u2019d gotten used to. \u201cGet out of your country,\u201d God said, \u201cfrom your family and from your father\u2019s house, to a land that I will show you\u201d (Genesis 12:1). And Abraham trusted God enough to let Him decide what territory would have to be traversed. \u201cHe went out, not knowing where he was going\u201d (Hebrews 11:8).<\/p>\n
Today, most of us have some definite ideas about the kind of life we want. We have one or two scenarios in our minds that describe the paths we\u2019d prefer to take between here and heaven. But we need to be careful. We must not hold on to those scenarios so tightly that we can\u2019t let go of them. And we must not be too dependent on knowing in advance what kind of lives we\u2019re going to end up with. The truth is, we don\u2019t need to know the territory. We don\u2019t need a map. All we need is a Compass we can count on.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbraham did not know the way, but he knew the Guide\u201d (Lee Roberson).<\/p>\n
Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n