Running in the Endless Frontier.
suppose I should explain where the blog name comes from. What I will attempt to write is the condensed version. I doubt it will come out in a way that seems condensed though.
Most of my life I have been content with where I am. It’s been easy to get comfortable with the flow and not make any waves. In recent months I have experienced something completely different. It’s been almost the exact opposite. It’s a stirring, unsettled restlessness that I can only describe as a prodding from the Holy Spirit toward something more.
I have had a relationship with Jesus Christ for most of my life, but this is a new and different feeling. It’s a call to trust with a radical and and seemingly illogical abandon. As I was contemplating how to put into words what I was experiencing, a dear friend of mine told me about a podcast series that I needed to listen to.
I started listening to the podcast on my way home from work and I was floored. I was hearing someone else explain my heart better than I could. Eric Ludy put into words what God was challenging my heart with. What God is calling me to is to take steps into His Endless Frontier. Let me explain.
It’s easy to begin a relationship with Christ and take one step into the Endless Frontier, look around and decide you are now better off than 99% of people, get comfortable, and pitch your tent there. You’ve set some standards for yourself based on biblical principles and cleaned up some of the “worse sins” and are feeling pretty good about yourself. Then maybe down the road there will be a prick by the Holy Spirit and you’ll pull the tent stakes up and take another step or so, get comfortable there, and pitch that tent again.
I don’t want that. I am tired to pitching my tent and pulling it up again. God is challenging me to trust Him. To get so caught up in my pursuit of Him, that I forget about the tent. That I pull up those tent stakes and run toward Him. I am not looking around at the scenery, or getting distracted by the challenges in this wild and unknown expanse, but I am running toward the destination my God has set for me. I will never full arrive this side of heaven. I will never find that perfect place to pitch my tent and I am done searching for it.
God has used godly men and women in my life who have been examples of pioneers into the Endless Frontier who have blazed trails that others have never been on before. I thank God for these people who have been physical, tangible examples of reckless and ruthless trust in their Savior and Lord.
Now, God is saying that it’s my turn. Am I ready to step out with that kind of faith? Am I ready to embark on a journey that doesn’t make sense to me? The answer is not so simple. I, on my own strength and volition, am not ready. I never will be. But as I have been delving in to this concept God keeps showing me that it’s not about feeling prepared. It’s about God. It’s not about me, what I can learn, what I can accomplish. It’s about loving Christ enough to follow Him and explore all that He has planned out.
Passages for Thought:
- Abraham - In Genesis 12 God calls Abraham to a “land I will show you.” Abraham had no idea where God was taking Him, but he obeyed. I, however, don’t have family to pack up and take on this journey, so it should be a little less intimidating.
- Elijah - 1 Kings 19 is such a full chapter and has definitely impacted my view of what following God looks like. Elijah get physically tired. He was completely ready to give up. He needed to rest, so he complained to God and then fell asleep. God sent an angel, gave him food, let him sleep again, sent the angel again to wake him up, and then gave him more food. This was when God called him to action. God knew Elijah was exhausted, so He fulfilled the physical needs, maybe not in the way Elijah wanted, but it was supernatural. It was loving. It was exactly what Elijah needed to fulfill the purpose God had for Elijah to fulfill at that point in time.
- Elisha - God, later in 1 Kings 19, sends Elijah to Elisha. As exhausted as Elijah was in his mission, God was still going to use him. So Elijah threw his cloak on Elisha as a symbol of passing on his role as a prophet. This is when Elisha did something remarkable. He left his work and asked Elijah if he could go and say goodbye to his family. After getting permission, he not only says goodbye, but he slaughters his 12 oxen, feeds his family, and then burns all his farm equipment. Now, this may sound silly, but it is so symbolic. He’s giving up the life he knew as a farmer and instantly follows. He gets rid of everything that gave him an identity and job there, sacrifices it, and heads out to follow God’s call on his life.
This is the beginning. It may not look important. But God is doing something radical. It’s counter cultural. It’s counter everything I have thought of as safe, practical and logical. It’s against the planning and perfectionist tendencies that I have. It’s transformational. It’s God. He’s at work. I am nothing, but a vessel.
