A journey

I’ve picked up John Eldredge again after a long absence. No, not an old boyfriend. Christian writer of The Sacred Romance, The Journey of Desire, Wild at Heart and Captivating, the last written with his wife. I’d like to know him though – he seems like an interesting guy to hang around with. Like my friend Bob, whose conversation always directs our thoughts to God. (Bob blogs at http://itzabouteternity.blogspot.com/ )

Anyway, John Eldredge writes about our relationship with God. His writing is full of imagery and compelling analogy. It is like a sudden splash of cold water on a hot day, refreshing and invigorating. A wake up call.

This caught my eye this morning.

Isaiah 45:2 – 3

I will go before you
and will level the mountains;
I will break down gates of bronze
and cut through bars of iron.
I will give you the treasures of darkness,
riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the LORD,
the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

Eldredge writes: “God’s imagery of going before us lets us know that he desires us to go on a journey. This is not so frightening. Most of us are aware that the Christian life requires a pilgrimage of some sorts. We know we are sojourners. What we have sometimes not given much thought to is what kind of a journey we are to be taking.
Not realizing it is a journey of the heart that is called for, we make a crucial mistake. We come to a place in our spiritual life where we hear God calling us. WE know he is calling us to give up the less-wild lovers that have become so much a part of our identity, embrace our nakedness, and trust in his goodness.”

Elsewhere he talks about becoming ‘slaves’ to anything that is not God. He talks about letting all kinds of things – many of them good – get in the way of our relationship with God. A relationship where God is calling us to venture into the unknown future WITH HIM. We are not alone.

I could keep rambling on and on and on. But above all, I want to keep going on that journey and be given ‘riches stored in secret places ‘ – riches that I will not be able to discover for myself unless God gives them to me.