The easy way…the way down is sometimes more confusing than the harder route…
Somehow, I found this illustration come to me on an afternoon run – I set out, in the rain and on the beach, to run a casual 10km.
Towards the end of the beach leg, there is wooden pathway that leads from the beach to the parking lot – this direction, the upward one – is quite clear and a no brainer, but upon my return – I found myself wondering if I had taken the correct pathway exit in the parking lot…as all of a sudden I was running on a concrete pathway…which then became a dirt pathway, which eventually became a wooden pathway…
The big ‘huh’ moment of this run happened on the dirt section – I couldn’t quite remember this section on the ascent of my run, but the reality is that I did run it but somehow, it didn’t stick out to me earlier.
Earlier on I was so focused on the climb of the pathway, that the actual running surface didn’t faze me – but yet now on my return, on the decline – I was a little bit confused – not for too long, but yet I was filled with a moment of doubt…
Focus shift
This same morning I was sitting in an Easter Sunday church service – it was a glorious morning in church that lead the pastor to make an altar call (this is a public call made for anyone whom would like to respond to the gospel and acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour) – traditionally during these calls, you will hear a pastor ask that the congregants bow their heads and close their eyes in prayer. At the end of such a prayer, the pastor will ask if anyone wants to respond to this call and if so, acknowledge the response by raising their hands – and at the same time, asking that the congregation please still keep their eyes closed.
This exact call happened this morning – but I was a bit ill-behaved and snuck a peek towards a certain young man that I noticed during the service, sitting some rows in front of me – I feel like he was sort of highlighted to me by the Lord and I just had this sense that he wanted to meet Jesus – he stuck his hand up when the call came – not high up, but that’s sort of irrelevant – Jesus knows…and that’s what counts in these moments.
The pastor continued to close the service and encouraged those that responded to speak to a friend or family member about their decision and then released the congregation – in those final moments, before leaving my seat, I heard the Lord speak to me about His church and the co-existence of generations and how we need each other…great stuff, I love hearing the Lord and how often He randomly encourages me about unrelated things J
The big collision of coincidence
Bringing this plane in for the land – so there I was, not knowing if the path I was on was correct but I proceeded nonetheless, it would have been great if I knew this path or area better, but I didn’t – I stuck it out and it worked out okay…you know this isn’t always the case but I’m happy that today it was…usually I’m grateful when people that have experience or knowledge of a subject and whom have gone before, give me tips and pointers – it doesn’t take away from the experience but rather adds to it.
Just like that young man whom responded to the gospel – I was so amped to try and see if I could speak to him after the service and to encourage him in his decision – to say ‘hey dude, best decision ever, its brave and Jesus loves you’ but before I could reach the guy, an old lady – I must guess late 60s or 70s somewhere…got to him, took his hand and assured him of the most glorious decision ever.
WOW…is this the random piece of information the Lord shared with me…the unrelated haphazard pieces of info He often drops, that I can never seem to piece together…
The bigger picture
After the lady had finished encouraging the gentleman – I was sort of stunned wondering where I fitted in to this picture – I always want to get involved somewhere you know (bull in a China shop…haha) – but instead of what I thought, I ended up stopping the lady to encourage her with what I heard from the Lord and what I just witnessed…
Right there and then, with all the love and compassion in the world she said to me, ‘I had to encourage him in the Lord, just like I would as if he was my own grandson.’
This was a massive WOW moment for me – just like my illustration of that pathway – sometimes in life we need an encounter with something or someone that has a revelation about a situation that we never could imagine – for that young man, maybe it was an uphill battle coming to church this specific morning – like it is for many of us – but how do we go home…and do we know what pathway we are taking?
Lastly, I feel like I want to make a simple encouragement: find an ‘older’ more experienced and knowledgeable individual, whom you can glean from – we’re all writing our own story, but it’s nice to know that there are those whom can encourage us, those whom have a revelation of sticking to the pathway.
Love,
Ryan
