I
totally admire creative people—people who can just make something out of nothing; like an artist who creates a beautiful display off a blank canvas. That kind of thing has never come easy for me. Too many
possibilities of getting it wrong. Too much white space to fill. I am
more of a paint-by-numbers kind of person. Tell me the area I need to
fill in and the color that needs to fill the space and I can handle it.
Then I am certain to get the results I want because I followed the
appropriate steps through the process. Paint blue, red and green here,
here and here, and you get a masterpiece. Totally easy. Do these three
steps, and you will get this desired result.
If only all of
life promised and delivered such desired results. If only we had a
guarantee that if we did something a certain way we would have a certain
end. But we don’t. And the truth is, this isn’t a surprise to you. You
know that even if you did all the right things, made the “right choices”, got the right job, house, car, followed the right
rules, got the good grades, practiced the hardest and studied the most,
it wouldn’t mean that you would always get the results you expect. And
the reason this is the case may be a lot simpler than you think.
Life isn’t lived off the recommendations of a step-by-step formula
like we might find on a paint-by-numbers. Life, as followers of Jesus,
is spent colliding with a very real, very alive, very unpredictable and
big God.
If you think about it, this makes sense. Because if
life was all about a simple procedure with simple rules and simple
guidelines than I think the Bible would be a lot shorter—especially the
Gospels where Jesus encounters people on a regular basis to heal their
internal and external wounds. If there was only one way things were
supposed to go—only one desired result—than I think all we would get is
one story. Jesus would tell this one person what they should do, and
whatever one thing He said would apply for all of us.
But it
doesn’t really work that way, does it? There are four Gospels. And each
Gospel is filled with stories—stories of individuals, stories of
personal pain, delicate hurts, specific pasts and particular
relationships. And Jesus doesn’t just say one thing to each of them.
Jesus doesn’t just have one word, one cure, one message. When Jesus has
an encounter with people, He collides with them. The Gospels are a
collection of stories where time and time again a person collides with
Jesus Christ—in fact, all of Scripture is the story of people colliding
with a Creator God. And no collision is exactly the same.
So
what does this mean for you?
Someone who would consider himself or herself to be a follower of Jesus,
but isn’t exactly sure what to do now? Well, if there was a phrase, if
there was one thing that Jesus said over and over again to people He
encountered, it was this: Follow me. In Matthew chapter 16, verse 24, Jesus says this to His disciples: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.�
“Follow me,� Jesus said. Where? Doing what? How? Well, you may not
want to hear this, but I am not sure how to answer that. Only you can.
It may mean going on a mission’s trip. It may mean serving in a place
and serving people you don’t typically interact with. It may mean
extending kindness, forgiveness and care to people who don’t deserve it.
It may mean getting up early to pray one day a week or giving one
week’s allowance to a charity or cause bigger than yourself. The point
is, only you know what following Jesus—what colliding with Jesus—looks
like in your life.
See, just like the Gospels are uniquely
personal, so too is your story. If you are interested in following
Jesus—if you are interested in being a disciple and in colliding with
Jesus—then you are the only one who can determine what that means for
your life. Colliding with Jesus is personal. It is unique. It will
result in a story no one else can tell because it involves you and the
God who made you.
I can’t give you a list of steps,
directions or rules to follow to determine the collision that will take
place when you intersect with God. I can’t make a promise about the
result, about the destination or about the implications for your life.
No one can. Except you. There is only one thing that is the same for all
of us, only one call and one mandate that we can be certain applies to
everyone—regardless of age, maturity, location, skills or fears. Jesus
says to follow Him. He says to walk in His steps, even without the
certainty of where you will go and how you will get there. Yes, it can
be a scary proposition—the idea of colliding offers little guarantee for
what just may happen as a result. But you can be sure that something
will happen. To you. In your story. Because of your obedience. Because
of God’s bigness. Because of your desire to love and honor the call
Christ asks of you. Collide with God—not because there is a promise
involved but because there is a big God involved, and because your story
is involved—your story is on the line. And you just may be surprised to
see what God can and is able to do when you surrender yourself to His
lead. Follow Him and hang on. Only God knows where you will go from
here.
By: Sarah Anderson, Post Collision Devotional
© 2010 Orange. All rights reserved.
