It's in the doing...

So, a few weeks ago the thought came to me, "what would happen if, for nine months I relentlessly pursued God with everything within me? What would life look like if that was my singular motivating aim?" I'm not entirely sure what that looks like, but I do know that it is something that is both frightening and exciting, and something that I am looking forward to seeing on the other side of it. I mean, think about it- how much stuff changes in nine months? Babies go from being just a thought to a fully formed human being. Whole paradigms shift as students learn in class during a school year. The tides of nations are changed in that span of time and often less. Nine months isn't magical. There isn't some secret, biblical, numerological formula for that span of time (so far as I can tell), but it is a sight to set my eyes upon. It is a goal after which I will reach- and so I will.

As I thought about this whole idea of nine months of pursuit, one of the most important things that kept sticking out to me was the reality that real, genuine bible study has to be a part of it. I am not talking about the, wake up, shove a few scriptures down your throat as you head for or run out the door and hope that you remember them throughout the course of the day, or your life. No, I am talking about meditating on the scriptures, letting them take root and knowing that your life is being changed by a word that the Bible says is alive and active. So I started today.

I hopped on The Village Church's website and downloaded their podcast from a few years back about how to study the bible. I listened to it last night before heading off to bed and endeavored to start this morning- and start I did. Today's text was Matthew 1-4, as good a place to start as any, since it is the beginning of the new testament account of the life and work of Jesus. Amongst these texts, something really stuck out to me, namely Matthew 2:20-22. In it Matthew says:

“Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead.”
21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,

Prior to this text Matthew has introduced us to the birth of Jesus and the fact that Herod is wanting to kill Him for being called "the King of the Jews." Joseph narrowly escapes with his wife and child and waits in Egypt until the death of Herod, the King, before he endeavors to return. Learning about Herod's death, he feels compelled by the Holy Spirit to return back to the land he came from because it is now safe. Along the way he, and seemingly God, change their mind, and suddenly realize that it's not so safe after all. The new king is just as, if not more dangerous than his paternal predecessor. Instead, God again warns Joseph to divert his plans and find himself in another place. The question that sticks out to me is this- didn't God know that Archelaus was king before he told Joseph to go back home? Was God surprised when, along the way back to Israel, an angel came to Him and broke the news, sending Him into a mad scramble to prepare a backup option for Joseph, Mary and Jesus? Or is something else at work here?

Maybe the traveling back to Israel was a pretext for God to show us the power of obedience. Sometimes, it is so easy for us to sit back and wait for a clear and concise direction and to say that until we have it we can't start moving. But what if God is asking us to move in the general direction of what we know and believe that along the way, He will make the details abundantly clear? Maybe that's what was going on here with Joseph. God knew all along what was going to happen. He knew about Herod, knew about Egypt, knew about the return to Israel that would be seemingly thwarted by Archelaus' reign and allowed it to play out exactly as it did, because He wanted to show Joseph (and us) what forward moving obedience looks like. Joseph could very easily have sat in whatever house he had built in Egypt and waited for the precise and exact direction for what was next. Instead, when God said go back to Israel he did, even though it was a very general direction he had been given. Imagine that God said to you, move to China. No city, no province, no idea of what area of the country to find yourself in- just move. How would we respond? More often than not I would say that we would look for signs in the stars, points on a map or a prophecy from someone that would identify all the specifics that our finite brains feel that we need. But what if God is saying "move" and the details will be revealed to you as you move forward. What if God is saying "the direction's in the doing." What are we now waiting on that God is waiting on as well? What if the full explanation of purpose, destiny, and fulfilled calling is waiting like waystations along the journey that is life, and what if we have to walk towards them in order to realize the fullness of our potential? What if waiting on the sidelines for a word will only continue to frustrate us because God is saying to walk confidently in the direction of the dreams that He has given us, believing that along the way more will be revealed. What if it's in the doing?