Pastor's Blog: Finding More Than You Were Looking For
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As we draw near to yet another holiday weekend, I find my mind wandering to the irony behind Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America. As our history books tell us, when Columbus departed Spain in 1492 to “sail across the ocean blue,” he intended to sail westward looking for a shortcut to the lucrative lands of India and China. Instead, he landed in what is today the Bahamas, in the process opening up an entirely new world to Europeans. Columbus ended up with a discovery he never anticipated making, but one that changed everything people at that time assumed they already knew.
I find great hope in that story because of how there are times when we assume everything that needs to be known has already been disclosed. But upon further examination, it is always the case that we have so much more to learn in life and so much more to discover. Around every corner is a new frontier and each day gives us the chance to add to our storehouse of knowledge.
That’s not only the case with life; it’s also true when it comes to faith. No one ever exhausts the riches of God’s redemptive promises in Christ Jesus and every moment provides us with the chance to contribute positively to our world’s knowledge of them. Even when we are not conscious of those possibilities, if our direction is toward faithfulness, remarkable discoveries still take place.
I remember coming across a quote years ago that too many people get hung up over destination instead of direction. In other words, they lock in on a particular place they want to get to in life so that when their path becomes frustrated or obstructed, they become paralyzed and unable to proceed. But when we look at our days from the standpoint of a direction, one which ideally is focused on God, even frustrations and obstructions become opportunities to discover new opportunities to serve God’s kingdom purposes. If we’ve learned anything over these last months from dealing with COVID, we’ve learned how staying fixed on Jesus keeps us moving forward toward a future that provides fresh expressions of his grace that bring inexpressible joy.
So, be alert to the Holy Spirit’s leading, particularly when you find the Spirit moving you in directions you may never have gone before. Such leading is never arbitrary or bereft of purpose, and it certainly involves no shortcuts. But the journey is always worth it, as the Spirit’s presence in our lives puts the right amount of wind in our soul’s sails and moves us in directions that will result in the emergence of God’s new world, even one in which all will be made new and Jesus will be Lord of all.
“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).