When I think of adventure today, it would be to travel to the Holy Land to do research on a novel about one of the wise men who followed the star.
As a child though, adventure meant following the creek that flowed through our property. Where did it begin? Where did it end?
I remember when my brothers, Dale and Lawrence, were given the job of felling several forty-foot fir trees along the fence line. As the saw bit deep into the trunk, Lawrence and I took turns climbing to the top, to ride each tree to the ground as it fell.
Branches trembled and Lawrence's "timber" shout echoed through the forest as I embraced the trunk. The tree gained momentum as it plunged earthward. At the very last moment I'd let go. When the tree smashed into the dirt, my hands were free. Afterwards I'd pick bits of bark off my shirt and try to peel the pitch off my hands and arms.
An adventure? It seemed so then, but now I'm not so sure. Even though encountering danger and a liking for excitement is, according to the dictionary definition, part of adventure, there's more.
When I place the phrases "to risk, to dare, and venture on" alongside Abraham and Sarah, I understand why their lives have been called adventures in faith. Adventure really does fit with what I'm learning. There's a risk involved with taking God at His Word.
Abraham's faith had taken him away from his homeland.
Now it's taking him beyond the borders of his tent. I can see him sitting outside, starlight silvering the grass. Is he envisioning the heavenly city God is preparing for him and his family in the distant future? "for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10). Do his thoughts whisper, "It will be. God has said. . . ."
I know from God's Word that faith which sees every step ahead is not really faith. Yet neither is faith blind. The eyes of faith focus on God's Word. The ears of faith listen to what God has to say. The will of faith obeys, puts a hand to the task, and gets the feet moving in God's direction. I realize now that walking by faith makes life an adventure.
Give us courage to pray, "Lord, increase our faith."
As a child though, adventure meant following the creek that flowed through our property. Where did it begin? Where did it end?
I remember when my brothers, Dale and Lawrence, were given the job of felling several forty-foot fir trees along the fence line. As the saw bit deep into the trunk, Lawrence and I took turns climbing to the top, to ride each tree to the ground as it fell.
Branches trembled and Lawrence's "timber" shout echoed through the forest as I embraced the trunk. The tree gained momentum as it plunged earthward. At the very last moment I'd let go. When the tree smashed into the dirt, my hands were free. Afterwards I'd pick bits of bark off my shirt and try to peel the pitch off my hands and arms.
An adventure? It seemed so then, but now I'm not so sure. Even though encountering danger and a liking for excitement is, according to the dictionary definition, part of adventure, there's more.
When I place the phrases "to risk, to dare, and venture on" alongside Abraham and Sarah, I understand why their lives have been called adventures in faith. Adventure really does fit with what I'm learning. There's a risk involved with taking God at His Word.
Abraham's faith had taken him away from his homeland.
Now it's taking him beyond the borders of his tent. I can see him sitting outside, starlight silvering the grass. Is he envisioning the heavenly city God is preparing for him and his family in the distant future? "for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10). Do his thoughts whisper, "It will be. God has said. . . ."
I know from God's Word that faith which sees every step ahead is not really faith. Yet neither is faith blind. The eyes of faith focus on God's Word. The ears of faith listen to what God has to say. The will of faith obeys, puts a hand to the task, and gets the feet moving in God's direction. I realize now that walking by faith makes life an adventure.
Give us courage to pray, "Lord, increase our faith."
