Am I brave enough to follow God into the wilderness?
Prayer Journal for March 27, 2019
Waymaking God,
The fact of the matter is that following you does take bravery. It is hard to lay behind our doubts and follow a Savior we have never seen. The challenge of being able to follow you into the wilderness of this world is something that we struggle with every day. We want to know how our own stories turn out, to be assured of a positive end result, but the fact of the matter is that life does not work that way.
While I know that there is no way for me to foretell the future, that does not prevent me from acting as I should be able to do so. The fact of the matter is that eternity is simply beyond my ability to comprehend. Forgive me for wanting to know things beyond my pay grade. Relieve me of the need to figure out things that are simply not knowable.
Dear God, I want to follow you. I want to be able to be like the spies in today’s story who will simply walk into an unseen future whether the future makes sense or not. In my heart of hearts, I know that there is fruit in the wilderness. I know that there are things to which you are calling me. I know that there is so much waiting for me if I am simply brave enough to walk behind you. Please guide me through my uncertainty. Help me to learn to walk with you each and every day.
There is so much that is waiting for me just around the corner. You have filled me with your goodness and called me to walk as your disciple. Scripture says that the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. Presumably following you would call me also to let go of my nest and to simply trust you in the wilderness. This is so hard to do, but it is critical to being able to live a life of faith.
Every time that I look at the Scriptures and see the people of God being asked to follow you through the wilderness, you also promise to provide them with what they need. You assure them that you will be their provision every step of the way. You remind them that they are going to be fed, taken care of, and ultimately led to the promised land that only you can provide. This has been the experience of your people throughout history. It is the experience that I have had in my own life. I praise you for your faithfulness. I thank you for the fact that you consistently make good on your promises.
Help me to be able to live into those promises. Make me willing to follow you. Give me the strength to be one of your children this day and every day. Lead me into the wilderness so that I may taste the fruit that you have promised.
Amen.
Leaning In, Letting Go: A Lenten Devotional
For several years the Disciples of First Christian Church (DOC) in Dexter, Missouri have used Advent and Lenten devotionals from Chalice Press to guide our personal prayer in preparation for the Christmas and Easter holidays. This year’s Lenten devotional, Leaning In, Letting Go, was written by Rev. Dr. Nicole Massie Martin, the founder of Soulfire Ministries and professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. My personal discipline during this season will be to daily respond to her questions in my prayer journal. From time to time during the season I will sharing some of my reflections here on this page.
