Bog sa nama, God with us. I have long been dreaming about the day when I would be able to title a blog post in Croatian. I have been praying over this post and I feel God guiding me along as I write. As I was wrestling with what to write about for this blog post, I was overcome by two main themes.
While back in the States I have been living an average life, enjoying every moment while I am living it. It’s been an adjustment from living life on the field, and it has definitely not been easy, but I am beginning to see things that I didn’t before. Along with school, Christmas markets, and reconnecting with friends, spending time with my family has been one of the main things I have been able to do. For this years Thanksgiving I was able to make many memories. Tonight I saw Frozen 2 with my family, and it reminded me of one of the themes God has laid on my heart. (By the way if you haven’t seen Frozen 2, YOU NEED TO GO SEE IT.)
One of the main songs in Frozen 2 is called “Into the Unknown,” which is exactly what God calls us to. He calls us to the unknown. The unknown looks differently for everyone, because God has a different plan for everyone, but God calls everyone to do something. With everything he calls us to, there are always unknowns.
“There’s a thousand reasons I should go about my day
And ignore your whispers which I wish would go away”
This is unfortunately the mindset that we often take when following God into the unknown. We push his whispers away pretending that we do not hear them. We let our own fears diminish the God of the universe’s voice until we are too distracted or afraid to follow him.
“I’ve had my adventure, I don’t need something new
I’m afraid of what I’m risking if I follow you”
We tell ourselves that it is too big of a risk to trust God. Is it really? Will we really limit God by our own perception on what he can do? Are we that unwilling to follow God to what he is calling us to? He is with us, and he is for us. Even in the unknown, God will be with us, just like he is with us in the unknown we are currently in. He is the one who guides us through the unknown even when we feel like we are unable to take another step. He leads us to the next right step until we are able to see a little farther ahead of us. It is not our job to worry about what lies ahead, but to be faithful to take the next step.
This leads me to the second point that God laid on my heart. It does not take a special fairy tale for God to be in the unknowns. Everyone has a story. There are incredible stories in every persons life where the fingerprints of God can be seen clearly. As I have been meeting new people, and taking the time to get to know people better, I have been overcome by this theme. Everyone has a story to tell, and everyone can use their story for God’s good. Even in the seemingly ordinary, there are unknowns. These stories of the unknowns lead to stories of God which serve as a testimony to others. The things we experience can impact others so profoundly, and yet often we choose to brush them off. We deem them “not special” or “boring” rather than embracing the story that God has given to us. It is in the ordinary that God is with us, and it is in the unknowns that God is with us. Our story is not over until God says it is, so embrace the story and passionately live and share the story he has called you to.
I recently got a necklace that says “adventure” in international morse code. I got it because I wanted to be constantly reminded of the adventure in the unknown that God calls has called me to. When the unknown seems dark and scary I have to tell myself that it is an adventure and lean into God even more. Without reminding myself, I might be blinded by my fears. He is with me in the known. He is with me in the unknown. He is with me in the adventure. He is with me when I feel like I can’t take another step. Not only is he with me, but he loves me through it when I will inevitably make mistakes.
Bog sa nama.
Passionately His 