Journeys

Have you ever had to travel on a car journey with no map or sat nav? Hiked across the countryside with no compass? Or even been lost somewhere, with no one to ask for directions?

It’s often hard to get lost in the 21^st century with smart phones and good road signs, but in life sometimes we can feel like we are on a journey and have no clue where we are going, and if we did, how we would get there.

This thought of journeying has been something I've been thinking a lot about recently and has made me remember how God has led me over the past couple of years. When I stop and think about where I am now and how I got here, there is so much I can be thankful to God for. If someone had of told me when I was 15 that I would be living in Nottingham, study a schools, youth and community degree and volunteering for NYfC I probably would have laughed at them. As at that point in time all I was interested in was carpentry.

It was only a few weeks ago that I shared in a rock solid group how God had been with me on my journey through life. I asked the group what they thought their journey looked like and gave them a picture with four different pathways. Each had a different obstacle or difficulty that might have affected the journey. But through this I asked them to draw their own path or life journey and show me if it had ups or downs, obstacles or diversions and maybe even if they recognized God journeying with them?

I have always found Abram’s call by God in Genesis 12 helpful, as it makes me put things into perspective and I can liken my story to his. You see God appears to Abram and without warning or explanation tells him to leave his home, his family and the land he knows because God has something better in store for him. Abram has this incredible ability to just obey without argument or complaint and leave with no map (or sat nav or smart phone), just relying on God to direct him as he travels.

Often when we don’t know where we are going it can be really scary, most of us like to be in control of our lives and be the ones to make decision about whether we turn left or right. I would personally like to challenge you to let God be in control. If Abram had never been willing to let God lead him, he would never have become one of the great fore fathers in the Bible and if I had never said yes to God when he asked me to go into youth work I would never had experienced his blessing and provision and would probably still be in Leicester working as a carpenter.

Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Simon Bentley is on his first year placement at NYfC

He is studying Theology and Schools work at MCYM