Imagine you’re going on a road trip. You are the driver. You’re starting in New York City, and your goal is to get to Los Angeles. It’s all you’ve ever wanted to make it to Los Angeles, and you’re so excited to get there. Now imagine you’ve got your best friend, God, in the passenger seat. You invited him along because you want this adventure to be with him. He’s going to be your navigator, your emotional support, your phone checker, your snack distributor, your DJ, all of it. (Passenger seat has a lot of responsibilities, as most of us know).
So you’re driving down the road, and God correctly tells you each turn. He’s a trustworthy navigator. You guys go on a long journey across the US that is guaranteed to get you to LA. You make it to LA in the expected time and it was a great trip! You didn’t make any stops other than the bathroom and for fast-food, but it was still a beautiful drive through the country. Now you are at your destination. Congratulations! Goal achieved.
Now imagine a different scenario. You’re back in NYC. You’re taking off for your road trip with God in the passenger seat and so far the trip is going great. He’s correctly told you where to turn each time, but after some time, you come up to a road and God says “If you want to, you can turn here… but only if you want to.”
You stare at him incredulously. What is that supposed to mean? You might start asking questions like “am I supposed to turn here? Is this road going to take us to LA? Why would I turn here? Isn’t this going to take longer?” But God just sits there smiling at you. “You can turn here, if you want,” He says again.
I probably wouldn’t turn there. I probably would wait for the next clear direction. I wouldn’t want my road trip to fail by taking a road in the opposite direction. I needed to make it to LA, so I would take the road that leads to LA.
But what if I did turn at that road? Where God calmly suggested I could go, if I wanted to. And what if that road led to Disney World? What an amazing adventure and story that would be. Surely God knows how to get to LA from Disney if he said we could go there, right?
Let’s just say that God and I did end up at Disney. We get back in the car after an amazing time and he starts leading me back to LA. But again, I come to a road and he says “if you want to, you can turn here.” I might be really shocked again. Really? Are we ever going to make it to LA? But knowing how great the last road I turned down was, I decide to make the turn again. Now we end up in Chicago and I get to eat one of the best Chicago hot dogs of my life. I get to do some exploring around the city with God, meet some amazing people, hear some crazy stories, and make great memories.
Next time God says “If you want to, you can turn here,” I turn immediately, because now I know that great things happen down these roads, even if they don’t line up with the plan. We end up going skiing in the rocky mountains, we end up at a rodeo in Texas, we got to hike through the Grand Canyon, and drink some of the best coffee in Seattle. We end up in LA, but now I’m arriving as a different person. I’ve met so many more people, seen so many more beautiful things, and learned so much. But I still made it to my destination.
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97 days. That’s how many days left I have of this wild adventure with The World Race. 97 more days of living out of a backpack that is smaller than my hamper at home. 97 more days of a life full of packing, moving, and readjusting, just to pack up 3 weeks later and do it all over again. 97 more days of spending most of my time outside of my comfort zone. In just 97 days, I’ll be H O M E.
And I try not to think about it too much, because all of a sudden 97 days doesn’t seem long enough to figure out my life. Going home is full of unknowns for me right now. I genuinely have no idea what I’m going to do. Where am I going to get a job? Am I going to get a job? Am I going to go back to school? Is my car still going to work or has it finally reached it’s expiration date? How could I even afford a new car? Am I going to stay in Michigan? How do I keep travel and adventure a part of my new “normal” life? How can I be sure that the next step I take will propel me to where I want to be in my future? How am I going to know what to do?
I’m sorry to any other World Racer’s who are out on the field reading this blog so far, because I’m sure that last paragraph gave you a stomach ache like it just gave me one.
A lot of us have been given dreams from God of our futures and of what he wants it to look like for us. But unfortunately, God didn’t leave a map and step-by-step directions on how to get there. He just gave us a vision. It feels like he slid me a piece of paper that looks like this. (Excuse me while I get really millennial on you and use doodled pictures from my Instagram story! Lol!)
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And while I like to think that I can draw a straight line from point A to point B, it doesn’t always work like that.
It’s not a straight shot. It’s actually going to end up looking more like this.
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And this got me thinking. I want to be brave. I want to follow boldly in the direction God is leading me, but I don’t know what the next step is, so how can I be bravely follow? Maybe, just maybe (here’s a crazy thought), the next step is up to me. Maybe, God is setting me free at the end of the race to make some choices, knowing that I’ll still end up at point B no matter what the choices I make are. Maybe God set out 10 different paths for me to get to point B and he’s going to let ME pick which one I want. All he is asking is that whatever path I choose, I must make sure I honor him.
So this brings me to a new mindset. I think God doesn’t always tell us clearly what he wants us to do, because what sort of adventure is that? Where is the bravery and growth that comes from doing exactly what you’re told? Aren’t the best stories the ones where you got a little lost or the ones where you threw the map away and decided to just see where you end up?
If anything would hold me back from making a decision, it would be failure. Because for the longest time that seemed like the worst possible thing that could ever happen. It has stopped me from taking so many risks. I don’t typically make a drastic life changing choice unless I clearly hear from God. But what if I’ve missed out on so many smaller wild adventures with God because he wasn’t shouting at me to take my turn that would get me to my destination? What if I’ve passed so many roads in my life that I COULD have turned down if I wished to? The times he sat there and said “if you want to, Katie, go for it.” It was fear of failure that was holding me back. Because unless God CLEARLY spoke it to me, how could I be sure it would be successful?
How beautiful could our lives be if we decided to start moving out of our comfort zones more often? If we decided to throw away the map that guarantees to get us to our destination and start making our own way? As long as you’re staying in close communion with God, and always making decisions that will honor Him, I think you can allow yourself to get a little lost. A little lost in adventure, in risks, in new things and in new people.
I think the way God introduces us to one of those “if-you-want” roads is by planting little desires in our hearts for new people and new things. How often do we ignore those? Maybe we all ignore them because we’re all afraid of failure. What if I apply for this new job and get rejected? What if I ask that guy out on a date and he says no? What if I try to start a business and it fails? What if I move to the south and it ends up horribly and have to come home? What if I sign up for The World Race and don’t fundraise all the money? All valid fears.
But maybe failure isn’t the worst thing. Maybe the growth and experience you get from failing will shape you into the brave person who God needs you to be when you reach your destination. Your life could be going completely according to plan, and if you keep going down the road you are, you’ll end up at your destination. But I want to challenge you to disrupt your plans. Throw away the map and go do something courageous, like learning to play that instrument you’ve always wanted to know how to play.
Go introduce yourself to someone new.
Apply for that job or internship that you really don’t need, but you want.
Start selling your paintings online.
Take guitar lessons.
Sign up for that missions trip.
Apply for that school.
Switch majors even though it’s your last semester.
Travel across the United States.
Pitch your crazy idea to your boss.
And if you try one of these things and fail, it’s okay. It won’t be your last desire, or chance, or idea. There will always be more that you can try again at later. But it just might enhance your road trip to try. When I come home and make plans for my next step, I’m going to trust that as long as I’m with God, he’ll take me to that place in the vision he gave me. I might not know exactly which short term job to take, or whether or not I should go back to school, or if I should pursue a career as a flight attendant, or if I should apply for an internship as a writer, or if I should start preaching at my church, or if I should move to Spain, or if I should find a job as a nanny or if I should go to a discipleship school, but as long as I keep pursuing Jesus, I’ll get to that place in that vision. I’ve been overwhelmed with how many different opportunities are coming my way because I don’t want to make the wrong choice and fail. But maybe God is just illuminating all the different roads I could choose and he’s going to help me make it through whatever path I pick.
“God may not always write the answer across the sky but he will always write in on your heart.” -Jordan Lee
Title credits to Madden.
