What happens when God asks you to travel with Him into the unknown, but it has nothing to do with an attractive physical space, an actual spot on a map, or another continent?
What happens when the adventure He is desiring for you to go on has more to do with a new place in His heart than a new address?
What do we say then?
Our culture idolizes the former type of adventure. We want our lives to be visually stimulating, full of picture-worthy content to post to our friends, family, and social media followers. If our lives aren’t constantly moving forward on the outside, or we don’t share shocking surprises or exciting news each week to elicit the response and affirmation we crave, we can easily fall prey to the lie…
Your life is boring.
Soon, every action or thought revolves around our hunger to portray ourselves as interesting and brave, our life as juicy, our days as adventurous. We want the appearance, the visible proof, of a life filled to the brim with an adventure of the outward kind.
In the forward of Sara Hagerty’s book Unseen, Jeff and Alyssa Bethke put it plainly, “We are shifting the way we live in order to create better pictures to post and content to create. Many of us no longer go on a hike and then take a picture to remember it. We want to take a picture to post, so we go on a hike to get that picture. It’s driving us. It’s feeding our insatiable desire to be seen. Be affirmed. Be noticed. Be loved. Be liked.”
I hear from many women who confuse embracing adventure with God for all the usual activities our culture deems as daring. This might be anything from hiking solo, jumping out of airplanes, running a marathon, rock climbing, traveling the world with your kids, spending a few years living in another country, learning how to scuba dive, or serving the hungry and poor.
I know from experience that these types of valiant activities provide us with incomparable exhilaration, they give us a high and we are left wanting more. These adventures make it easy for us to share and publicize our stories. We carry a sense of pride for our accomplishment in these movement-oriented type of endeavors that require both strength in our body and stamina in spirit.
But what about those stirrings from God that don’t feel overly exciting, when He’s asking you to engage with Him on a long adventure of the soul? You know deep down a camera isn’t necessary nor are the words for a perfect story, what then?
More than likely this inner, invisible adventure towards a quieter space, not a physical place, where you learn to travel with Him in rest, exploring layers of life and His love, letting Him do the needed renovations on your heart, is much more of a struggle to say “YES” to, am I right?
You might be surprised to find out I don’t lead a very adventurous life by the standard and definition of the world at least. For the most part my adventures with God consist of this inward, soul type. And to me, these adventures are the most precious. (Though not the easiest or the most dreamy!) They are where God and I experience some of the most breathtaking beauty together.
How do you and I happily trudge down these humble paths where deep transformation occurs beyond the lens of a camera and the watchful eyes of our onlookers? Here are a few thoughts for you to ponder as you learn to let your soul travel deeper into a wild God:
Start to see your life as beautiful, instead of boring and in need of attention-seeking actions. There’s no need to conjure up or concoct an adventure by taking some giant leap of faith, exotic vacation, or undertaking and sharing our every endeavor. My friend, the adventure is already here. Mull on that truth for a while, let it sink into your bones until you believe it. Your grandest adventure, the one you’ll always remember, won’t finally happen when… but it’s actually unfolding now. Life with God is never boring!
Don’t be afraid to settle…to settle into Him that is. We humbly recognize that God is our only home, the Unmoving One. Let the scenery you discover here within His presence never cease to make you stand in wonder.
Pursue the less photographed life. Consciously decide to leave the phone cameras in the drawer upstairs and in doing so breathe back into your life the sacredness that it was always designed to contain. Practice looking at life with an eloquence and slowness that can only be captured through a thankful heart.
My hunch is God has been talking to you about something, about a movement of the inward sorts, that won’t get alot of attention or affirmation. I pray these words today cause you to lean towards Him, more thrilled than ever to follow His lead even when no one is looking.
I can’t wait! On Monday, April 16th I will be launching Sacred Adventures: A Travel Journal For Your Soul into the world. I created this to be a guide for us down the roads of the longer, seemingly boring, adventures with God, that actually prove to be the most thrilling! To be the first to know when they are available {and get a coupon!} be sure to sign up for my monthly adventure letter going out this week.
Beautifully said as always!
Beautiful thoughts friend. I always have my phone with me. I started looking for the good and sharing every tidbit years ago when my girls were tiny. It’s become who I am. Hard to imagine a different way. Quiet is good:)