Friday, March 14, 2008
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Living in the busy suburbs of New York City, it was always nice to scoop up the family and go for a little Sunday afternoon drive in the country. Just to our north was a beautiful rural area where we often went to wander, explore, or just revisit some favorite places we found. Seldom did I offer the family a detailed advance itinerary. That was okay with two of our kids. Not our oldest son. When I said, "We're going for a mystery trip today," he didn't jump up and down with excitement. In fact, he suddenly went into interrogator mode. "Where are we going, Dad? How long will it take to get there? How long are we going to go there? How long are we going to be there? What time will we get back? Where are we going to eat? What are we going to do there?" Finally, I just turned to the back seat, looked him in the eye, and said those two bottom line words: "Trust me." And we had some great mystery trips!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Mystery Trips."
It could be that your Heavenly Father is taking you on a mystery trip right now. You're not sure where He's taking you. You're not sure what's going to happen there. You only know that He's taking you for a ride beyond what you know, beyond what's comfortable and familiar. You're asking, "Father, where are we going? Where are you taking me?" And He looks at you lovingly and He's simply saying, "Trust me, my child."
And although there are all kinds of fears and questions and possibilities, you can relax in the ironclad assurance of Ephesians 1:11, our word for today from the Word of God. It takes off the zoom lens that's all focused on the little dot in front of you and it replaces it with God's wide-angle lens that will help you see the big canvas of your life and of His plan. The picture goes all the way back to before there was even a you - before there was a world. God had His eye on you even then. The Bible says, "In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will." Your life is part of a detailed, eternal plan. And when you give your heart to Jesus, God becomes your Heavenly Father and you start to embrace His plan; a plan where He "works out everything" to carry out His perfect will. Your Father doesn't miss a thing.
So you can dare to ride with Him into the unknown, knowing that He loves you and He makes no mistakes. He knows what you need to know, He knows when you need to know it, and He's given you as much information as you need right now. You see a step by taking a step. And you're developing the spiritual faculty that opens up all of heaven's best to you. It’s called faith. In Hebrews 11, God tells us that "without faith it is impossible to please God." He defines faith as "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Then He gives an example: "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place where he would later receive his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."
If you know where you're going, you don't need faith. Besides, Biblical faith isn't in a destination or an outcome. It's faith in a person; a God who knows everything, who controls everything, and who gave everything for you when He gave His Son to die for you. Anyone who loves you that much isn’t going to do you wrong.
If you've never opened your life to Jesus, the One who died to forgive your sin so you could live the life you were created to live, why don’t you begin that relationship today? When you do, you step into the plan you were made for; into the arms of the One whose love you were created for. He’ll forgive every sin that separates you from Him and put you into the flow of the destiny you were put here for. You need to tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours."
If that’s what you want, I want to invite you to visit our website as soon as you can today, because I’ve tried to put some information there that will very simply explain to you how you can be sure you have begun a relationship with Jesus Christ. The website is yoursforlife.net. Or I have a booklet, Yours For Life, that has the same information in it. You can call toll free for that at 877-741-1200.
Don't be afraid to go with your Heavenly Father on a mystery trip. You don't need to know where you're going. You only need to know who's driving, and that's your Heavenly Father who loves you more than you can imagine.