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Road Trip Revelations
When God teaches in unexpected places
By Cory Whitehead
May 31, 2006
It happened again on a recent road trip while I was listening to my new Johnny Cash CD and mentally planning my week of blissful vacation.
God came. Unplanned. Unannounced. But ready to work with me because I finally had some time to listen.
He came similarly two years earlier. That time I'd been restless for a couple years. I wasn't restless because I was still single or had an unfulfilling job, but because I had an insatiable desire to serve at my church and wasn't finding the right fit. I've never bought into the "I'll make a difference when I'm married" mentality; I knew the time to make an impact was now, not later.
I tried the set-up, tear-down role at my church. Then I greeted visitors. I did the once-a-quarter service day. Nothing seemed like enough, or the right thing, or the right place. I asked my pastor how I could serve, what other opportunities might be out there for me. I filled out spiritual gift inventories and personality profiles. I prayed and prayed some more. And soon after, I found myself on a road trip experiencing a spiritual revelation.
I struggled to take notes as I kept my car headed due east. Excited that God was near, I jotted down the ideas, plan, and vision to start a mentoring program for local at-risk children. It all seemed to fit my specific gifts and interests perfectly.
As I looked at all my scribbles later, I realized God had probably opened doors or tried to give me this idea before, but I was selfish, or lazy, or scared. I was never very good at taking risks. Call it lack of faith. For some reason, this time was different. Maybe because I was tired of waiting on myself. Or maybe I simply was ready to be faithful and step out of the boat. No more excuses.
I'd just finished reading John Ortberg's If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat. It woke me up to the incredible potential that's available for us if we step outside of our comfort zones, just as Peter and the other disciples did in Matthew 14:22-33. Although taking risks is terrifying and uncertain, it takes a certain faith in God. I realized if God was going to work through me, I needed to take these risks.
Two years later, this most recent road trip revelation was another eye-opener that helped me remember where God had taken me. I'd had a less-than-ideal few weeks at the helm of the mentoring program's second semester. Volunteers weren't stepping up as I'd hoped. Kids often seemed disinterested and misbehaved. None of the at-risk kids or their parents had plugged into a local church.
But as I drove that stretch of highway, God reminded me of something someone had told me just a few days earlier: "You'll never know how much this program has touched the lives of these children." With 15 at-risk children in the program and with several relationships developed with their families, I realized this was true. God didn't orchestrate this ministry's inception and growth in vain.
God sent me the exact reminder and encouragement I needed, enough to simply keep going. I wanted quicker results, but realized we often have an idealistic paradigm that we'll graduate from school, instantly possess incredible wisdom, find a spouse and start a family, and quickly turn this world upside down. When that doesn't happen as planned, we can turn cynical and question God.
What if we're a bit too proud and a bit too sure we can do anything, because that's what we've heard all our lives? In my journey of singleness, I've come to realize the Christian life isn't about dramatically changing the world, but about simply being faithful. Faithfully serving. Faithfully encouraging. Faithfully loving. Faithfully living.
I've had to learn how to do this better the last few years, and I still have a long way to go. In between these road trip experiences with God, I've learned a few things along the journey:
- Take risks, even if you think you might fail.
If you don't take risks, God will never be able to work in your life as he could. If you always play it safe and stay in the boat, you'll definitely miss the chance to walk on water.
- Make time for God to work with you, even if it has to be on a road trip.
Our lives are so cluttered that every now and then we need to take ourselves to a place where we're not inundated with stuff. You don't necessarily have to make a spiritual plan, you just have to free your mind for a while. Turn off the television. Turn off your cell phone. Just listen. Just be.
- Don't expect everything to fall into place.
We always have expectations, whether they're stated or not. Know those expectations aren't necessarily God's plan, and remain faithful when God's path wasn't what you had planned. You'll understand someday, sooner or later. Maybe even one day while you're in your car.
Cory Whitehead works in new product development at Christianity Today International.
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