If you had asked me 3-5 years ago what I wanted to do with my life, my response would have been something to do with making a lot of money; a 9 to 5 job with an important title would have sounded great. To live comfortably with a cushy bank account encompassed the life that I wanted to live- because somewhere along the line from the time I was born to the time I was old enough to get a job, the world had kind of told me that money=happiness.. and I was determined to make sure that the plans that I had for my life would come to fruition.
A few years back God really started laying it on thick that He had other plans for my life.. like not even remotely close to the same as my plans..
My first couple years of college I started to recognize just how broken this world really was and God started to shape my heart. Brokenness not only here in the States, but in different countries as well. You can walk almost any road in the world and see someone desperate, lonely, abused, unloved, abandoned, scared, lost.. literally they are in pieces. The one thing that I have found to be a constant is that they are all trying to fill their emptiness with even more empty promises of the world. They are searching for something, anything, to take away the pain or to help them achieve peace. I know because I’ve been there. I think we will all be there at some point in our lives. To those who know who Jesus is and are broken, you might want to consider changing up life a bit? Jesus lays it out pretty clearly for us in Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life and only a few find it.”
Not too long ago I went on a bike ride with a solid group of friends. We pedaled 400 Miles in 4 days; from our little town of Prescott, AZ to Oceanside, CA. Dang what a trip. Now on this ride we had a big choice to make. We could take a major highway; which was easier, heavily traveled, and a faster route. Or we could take the long road, less traveled, and real narrow. (see where I’m going with this?) If you have ever driven a major highway you will notice it is: fast to get where you are going and you don’t really take in all that is around you, noisy with horns and distractions, maybe some road rage and traffic jams, and the shoulders of the road are littered with junk like blown out tires and trash. But it is the road that everyone else is taking so why not right?.. And then there was the road that we took. I was a little upset at first at the thought of this road tacking on hours and miles to our trip. But after the first day, I knew we were in for a treat. The road we took was quiet, the landscapes were stunning, our company was joyous, and we didn’t have to worry about hitting junk that others had left behind.
Finding happiness and fulfillment in life might be as easy as taking the more beautiful, less traveled road that God has set before you. Usually it starts with love. I know a couple of guys that do ministry in my hometown that have this awesome saying, “You are your own lamest cause.” Meaning that living for yourself and your own selfish desires is the lamest cause on earth. I remember the first time I heard it I felt like I just got smashed over the head with a brick.. Because I knew that was me. I had these plans to benefit myself and put myself as number 1. And I had suffered some real broken situations in my life because of it. But there came a day when I started living out Gods plan for my life- loving others the way Jesus indented while doing mission work around the world. There is no greater joy or fulfillment than showing the love of God to someone broken, lost, and looking for answers to living life to the fullest.
This is what life is all about. LOVE. And loving others. That is why I am canceling the plans I had, selling everything I own, and traveling the world to share the good news. I know it is not for everyone, and some people think I’m nuts! Francis Chan puts it best, “Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers.”
Thanks for reading! Prayers and donations are super appreciated!
-Josh
