Your Journey

All of our lives are a journey. Your journey may be different than mine. Mine lead me to faith, and continues to lead me into a deeper relationship with Christ. What is your journey of faith? Your journey may be different than mine. You may not have had the same background as I. Your family may have had a strong faith to base yours on, maybe not. I think it is interesting, how someone can come to faith from such a different place than others. Just think of some in the scriptures, how different they were.

You have the twelve apostles to start with. Peter, Andrew, James and John were Galilean fisherman. Their journey of faith was detoured through a hard occupation, difficult circumstances and a life of hardened men. They were told by Jesus, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” James journey was shortened by a beheading, Andrew (as tradition would have us believe) was John the Baptist’s disciple, originally. He was there when John said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” He would be crucified in the spread-eagle position, lending his name, ‘St Andrews Cross’ for the cross of Scotland. Peter, the ‘Fisherman’, was chosen by Christ to bring the gospel, opening the church, to the Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles. John would live longer than any disciple, bringing us the Gospel account, epistles and a mighty revelation of Christ.

Think of others, Simon, called the Zealot. The Zealots were the domestic terrorist of their day. Their hate for Rome was palpable. They were fighting against the scourge of occupation and corruption of Jews helping the Romans. Simon (the Zealot) was an unexpected follower of Christ, coming from such a political movement to a spiritual one. And his antithesis was Matthew (also known as Levi). Matthew was the opposite of Simon, he was a Roman sympathizer, or worse, a collaborator. Matthew left a lucrative occupation to follow Jesus.

What of Thomas, the ‘doubter’ we call him. His journey was one of questioning, doubts and unbelief. He said to Jesus, “Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” when Jesus said, “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” And what of Judas, his journey lead to a kiss of betrayal, and finally to taking his own life. His faith was lost along the same path that the other eleven, though not exactly perfect journeys by any means, traveled.

Then could we consider Paul. He was a young student, called Saul at that time, of the Law and the Jewish faith. His journey begun in religious strictness, continued in zealous persecution of a small sect, ended in an encountered with the very one he denied. Paul’s journey, not typical, is the exception that proves the rule. What does that mean? Paul’s journey of faith is unique to him, but wasn’t Simon the Zealot, Levi and Simon Peter’s also.

Your journey and mine are unique to us. God has used a background of faith to ground you in faith. Maybe, for you, it was a journey through unbelief, which God used to sovereignly bring you to your unique measure of faith. Mine is not yours, yours is not mine and ours is not Paul’s. Realize that God’s wisdom is greater than ours and He leads some down one path, another-a different. It is not the journey, so much as it is what it leads you to.

Thank God for the journey He has brought you through. Thank God for the journey that got you from there to here, to a place of faith and devotion to God. Thank God for every moment, as Paul said, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose…”

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