The last few hikes (not to mention a kayak trip) I’ve taken have somehow turned into adventures. Some of it was my own fault; I should have researched the route better. But sometimes we knew what we were getting into – we just didn’t expect climbing sheer cliffs, slipping in mud, fallen trees, and so on and so forth. While surprises are fun, that kind of adventure wasn’t in the plan for the day.
It made me think again about the way I research and plan hikes. Sometimes it was a simple reality that I should have research more thoroughly before recommending a trail. Or that maybe we could have prepared better for the hike (a flashlight for hiking 3 hours in the dark, maybe?) Some of my hiking group members were definitely thinking down the line of, “Lessons learned for next time…”
But for me, while I’m all for learning how I can do better next time, I realized that I’ve slipped into the comfort of all-inclusive trail reviews online, easy hikes with great views out west, and the general idea that if there is a trail then it’s doable. I was surprised because I wasn’t trying to have an adventure.
Yet adventure followed me even when I didn’t follow after adventure. In some ways it’s a comfort – I can still go on an adventure and laugh at the end (and middle) of it. In other ways it made me wonder: Can I ever escape adventures? Do I even want to escape from the harder parts of adventures?
It can be easy to become comfortable in our faith, just like it can be easy to become comfortable with easy trails. We pray, we read our Bibles, we go to church. It’s not that our faith becomes lukewarm, per se, but we’re not living in the adventure of God – only in the barest reality of salvation.
My sister wrote a song a number of years ago that goes something like,
You take my dreams
Dreams birthed by You
You give them wings
And there’s nothing You can’t do…
But it’s not walking with You
Unless
We’re on an adventure
Together*
What she captured in this song is the idea that walking with God isn’t just about being saved. It’s about an adventure – an adventure where we don’t necessarily know what’s next or where God will take us. It’s John 3:8 – “The wind blows wherever it pleases… So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
When we’re walking closely with God, we’re on an adventure. Chances are even if we don’t seek out the adventure, the adventure will seek out us. “Adventures in Faith” might be a better description of life with Jesus than we want to admit.
Sure, there are the mundane, everyday things to do. The trash needs to be taken out, the laundry needs to be done, unhappy people need to be loved, the morning commute still needs to be negotiated. But even those can become an adventure with God if we will let Him into them. I was mowing the lawn earlier this summer and God began speaking to me clearly about a situation we were going through. Even mondane chores don’t have to be boring!
We can choose comfort, consistency, and safety in our spiritual lives. We can also choose to let the adventures come when God’s ready for them. Or in the words of another song,
Questing in faith and hope
Can’t help but look for adventure
My arms are outstretched wide
By natural or supernatural
Reality and miracles collide
My God’s got this journey
We all call life…**
That doesn’t mean that we don’t use common sense. I still take far more water on hikes than I think I’ll need. But I’m also not opposed to the adventure.
* “Adventure” by Wheels of Glory!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua2JmLpWSP0
** “My Father’s Child” by Wheels of Glory!
