For I am the Lord your God
Isaiah 41:13 NIV
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.
I have always wanted to travel but never figured I actually would do much traveling in my life. I’m not sure why I told myself I this—probably the common explanations we usually hear: it’s scary, it’s expensive, it’s difficult, etc., are some of the reasons I told myself.
These objections were a quiet sound track playing in the back of my mind from the time I was little until very recently. I remember reading in world history at a young age about the ancient Mayans and Aztecs, about the temples and structures they built; about far off lands and places that sounded so exotic, but I never really contemplated that I would actually get to see them.
Recently, my husband and I got the opportunity to go to Mexico. I was hesitant—I mean I wanted to go the beach . . . Florida would do. How different could a beach in Mexico be? My husband wanted to go. He reminded me that we wanted to see different places and that we didn’t want to only go to the same places anytime we got the opportunity to go. I thought about it for a while and consented. We excitedly began planning our trip—with a dose of apprehension on my part.
We made it safely to Mexico and while there we decided to visit the Ancient Mayan ruins of Tulum. It was spectacular! The stone structures still stood, older than just about anything we have here in America. How in the world did these people build all of this without modern tools or machines!?! Built by hand and yet the structures have stood for centuries! There was a point when we were walking along a path in between the stone structures and along the edge of a cliff . . . the ocean water below was the bluest water I have ever seen. As I glanced out seeing the mingling of gray stone, cerulean blue water, the lush green palms—I caught my breath. I thought, “This is the kind of place that I only ever imagined seeing pictures of.”
I realize many of you reading this will be rolling your eyes over my wonder of Mexico when you have traveled to more exotic places. But the fact of the matter is that I told myself I would never actually get there, and that is what actually took my breath away.
God gives us each desires, dreams, goals and visions for our lives, and while it is true that He calls us to things outside of our comfort zone, things we would rather not do at all, it is equally true that He gives us personalities and desire for a reason! Sometimes we think that because we want something, we will have to suffer and/or go without. We act like a life of service to Him means we will have to sacrifice any desires we ever had. We must be willing to sacrifice the desires of our heart so He can mold us into what He wants us to be. We serve a loving God who desires for us to be happy and He blesses us with lovely experiences along life’s way.
I think of Moses who told God that he couldn’t lead a people out of slavery because he wasn’t eloquent speaker. God told him that He was the one who made mouths to speak or not speak. I think of Esther who was encouraged by her cousin, Mordecai, that perhaps she was made queen in order to speak up when the lives of her people were being threatened. I think of Joshua when he was scared to lead the people into battle and God told him to be strong and courageous.
What do you desire that you have told yourself that you’ll never do? God made you for a reason! Don’t ignore the desires you have; they were given to you to use, maybe not in the ways you imagined but you are to use them nonetheless. Talk to Him about it! Do not view Him as a mean or militant father because you are too scared to step into the path He has designed for you. He gave you desires and personality for a reason. So perhaps instead of just telling ourselves a storyline of how we may never get to experience or do things we want because we must submit to Him, maybe we should really be asking why we were given a certain desire or ability, and asking what He wants us to do with it.