Choose Your Own Adventure
I used to write choose your own adventure stories as a kid. I loved the idea of being able to choose your own ending. Quite often the reader would find themselves on a mystery treasure hunt, trudging through the Amazon rainforest. Make the right choice and you were bestowed with riches beyond your wildest dreams. But, inevitably, if the reader made the wrong choice the story would always end with being crunched to pieces in a swamp full of hungry crocodiles.
I had forgotten about these stories until recently, and it got me thinking about my own life.
How often have I gone through life choosing my own adventure?
I would ask God for His input, hoping I was following His will for my life. But for so many of my stories, I have forged my own way, sought my own adventure. I have ultimately made choices based on what I thought would make me happy, or out of my own desire to prove my worth. And while I have never found myself literally running from a swamp full of crocodiles, I can definitely say that I have made mistakes, and I haven’t found the treasure I was expecting at the end of the story. Many adventures ultimately left me feeling empty and unfulfilled. I think if we are honest with ourselves, we can say that we have all tried to choose our own adventure at some point in time.
So you may be asking yourself two things:
I’ve made so many mistakes by choosing my own adventure. Is there any hope for me?
How do I allow God to choose my adventure?
Let’s look at number 1. We have all made mistakes. No doubt…Let me ask you this, do you think God is surprised by your mistakes?...Not. One. Bit. God knew every failure and every mistake that you would ever make before you made them. He knows about the ones you haven’t made yet. He’s not surprised by them, and He is able to turn those mistakes around and use them for your good. As you trust God with your mistakes and failures, He can take them and use them for your good, and maybe for the good of those around you too.
“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB)
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NASB)
So how do we allow God to choose our adventure? We invite Him into the process.
It’s understanding who we are, and trusting the heart that God has given us.
“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26 (NASB)
We have a new heart, and it’s united with Christ. The more we lean into Jesus and trust Him as our life, the more we will be able to hear Him as He leads us... And you will make more mistakes, you can be sure of that. But don’t let that discourage you from continuing your adventure with Jesus. (see question number 1. Jesus isn’t surprised at your mistakes, and He still wants to do life with you)
Dust yourself off, and keep going. I promise you, it will be worth it.
What I have discovered through all these dead ends in my life, is that Jesus is far more interested in going on the adventure with me than He is worried about the outcome. We don’t need to achieve in order to earn His love. We are already loved and accepted, simply for who we are. And this life with Jesus, this is the treasure that I have longed for all along.
