The long road

I'm now 33.

At the age of around 33 Jesus was nailed to a cross and crucified, saving the world from the power of sin. It is easy to look and say what have I achieved? Of course it is a poor comparison, comparing your achievements to that of the Son of God is bound to be sobering. But as Jesus set his face towards Jerusalem, ready to face the cross, ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for the ultimate victory - it is worth asking where are we going?

It's easy to ask the question are we on the road to nowhere or are we on the road to heaven? But it is not just the final destination that matters - the journey matters. Jesus did not simply say go straight to heaven, do not pass normal life. He said, If anyone want to follow me he must deny himself pick up his cross and follow me. Matt 16v24

The journey matters and sometimes it is a long road, there are mountain top experiences (some incredibly spiritual and some the equally incredible of coming home and having your children go Daddy and run into your arms), and their are times of sorrow and loss (both ordinary the loss of loved ones but also spiritual when things don't work out and our spiritual walk is barren.)

Back to Genesis we are created out of the dust and we are physical creatures. We are made in the image of God and yet we have flesh as well as the breath of God. Our emotions can climb the heights and slide into the depths. Sometimes I don't feel like I have anything left to offer, and life and church feels barren because I feel barren.

The view from the valley looks different from the view from the mountain, but it is our perspective that changes - not the landscape. God is still the same, Alpha and Omega, beginning and end. In life the scenery and costumes change, but the play is still the same human drama - there is nothing new under the Sun (Ecclesiastes).

I can look back and seem to be miles away, from where I was, but God does not change. The lost son can always find a Father, if he as Jesus puts it "comes to his senses".

It is more than that we live in an age which asks more than anything else, "How do you feel?" "How does that make you feel?" Mood is everything - but actually it isn't. My feelings are inaccurate. Some thing is not true just because I feel it ought to be true. Many have rejected the idea of ultimate truth not out of logic, but out of emotion, they don't like the sound of it, it does not feel right.

But feelings do not make truth. God is still God whatever I feel. Elijah on the run is met in the cave in a mood, God does not give Him an emotional massage, He asks Elijah what are you doing here? 1 Kings 19v9, and God sends Him back into the world. It is interesting God does not just tell Elijah, he asks the question, what are you doing here? God lets Elijah get it off his chest, but once he is done that Elijah is sent back the way he has came. He may not feel like it, but the encounter with God reminds him, God has not changed. Elijah, is the famed man of the emotional roller-coaster, from the heights to the depths - but he really was a man just like us. (James 5v17).

The question is not how do you feel but will you go where God sends. It does not depend on our feelings, but on God's power - and our obedience. Our faith needs to be bigger than our feelings. Seeing may be believing, but we are called to be the people who are certain of what we do not see.

If we step out in faith we will find the power, obedience leads to encounter, believing leads to seeing.