Zoe

It's time for a new adventure.

No idea what's coming next. Well, I have a few ideas, but they're all very different and we may not even end up doing any of them. But something new is coming, and it's like a spring of excitement has opened in me again. I love the uncertainty of making big changes (although sometimes it's a love-hate relationship), the liberty in leaving behind something that made me weary every day, and the many possibilities of what could be.

But a lot of people are more realists than me. They like to be killjoys to people with big dreams and full trust that God will provide. "But where are you going?" "But what if you don't find a job soon?" "How will you afford living off just his salary and your savings?" "Do you really even have any idea what you want to do?" "How will you find a job when you can't even pinpoint the job you want?" "Why don't you just stick to the safe route until you have something figured out?"

The safe route is what kills me. It's been robbing me of my passions and desires and the zoe within me (zoe = full, abundant life that Jesus talked about wanting for us). Abraham was a man who had everything he needed, had many friends and family around him, knew what lay ahead for him in his future. He was safe, he was set. But God called him away from all that. We never hear anything about Abram and God, or even Abram's family and God, until God calls him. He tells him to leave behind everything he knows, follow God, and God would take care of him.

Well, God was true to his word. Abraham (his new name: "Father of many") became a very wealthy man (although that's not the point) and God gave a son to his barren wife. From that son came innumerous ancenstors, a great nation, and the most incredible gift of all: the savior of the world, who lived and died and made a way that we all might have zoe, both now and forever. Just imagine if Abram had refused God's call and instead, stuck with the logical choice - the one that he knew would take care of his family and make sure they were provided for; the one that followed all of the knowledge and experience from his 75 years rather than an intangible being he likely never heard a word from before. Imagine no Israel. Imagine no Jesus.

I'm not expecting God to bring a savior into the world through me. He's already done that and he doesn't need to again. But I am expecting him to do great things through mine and Ross's life when we follow his holy spirit in us. He used all kinds of nobodies in the Bible. Prophets who spoke his word which turned the hearts of nations, boys who became kings and brought glory to his name among all nations, fishermen who were honored above all to be at the feet of Jesus until his death and went on to tell the world about the Messiah! Pharisees who turned from the law they had clung to and instead found joy in suffering for the name of Jesus.

I am convinced that nothing in my life will ever matter, and I will never be full, unless my income, possessions, career, health, comfort, pride, and yes even my friends and family (Luk 14:26), pale in comparison to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord (Phil 3:8). That's where our zoe comes. When serving his will is the first thing we think about in the morning, the last thing we think about at night, and the driving force of everything we do, we will know the beautiful, peaceful, joyful, complete life for which God created us.

He's been calling. He's been offering his zoe. But it means trusting him to lead us. It means not relying on our own understanding and knowledge, but on His.

And so, we go.