As we gather a new group in our online course (Simple/House Church Revolution), I find myself surrounded by enthusiasts who are daring to experiment, step out of old boxes, and risk trying new things for God.
My feeling is, ‘these are my people.’ It’s not even about trying to fit people into a different “simple/house church” box. It’s about being with the explorers, the risk-takers, and those who are willing to follow a God who is often messy and untamed (as one course participant wrote). It’s about saying to God, “You lead, and I will follow even when I often do not understand what that will look like.”
My prayer is that none of us lose the joy of adventure that the life of faith is all about.
Perhaps if our life as a follower of Jesus has become tedious and mundane, it’s time to consider if we are willing to listen—really listen—to whatever step of faith God may be calling us toward. The mundane life that leads to rest and restoration in the embrace of our beloved is wonderful, and even important, for a season. But when that season turns into boredom and lethargy, it might be time to resuscitate our risk-faith muscles and turn our ears and heart toward the vision that God is wooing us toward.
Because the course participants I mentioned are stepping out of well-worn systems of church gatherings, their sense of risk and faith is palpable as they leave comfort zones and push into some unknowns with nothing but a dependency that God is leading.
This stirs and encourages me to a fresh openness for today. I want to be open to any and all places in my life as a follower where I have substituted a life with routines and ruts that are no longer serving His cause. I want to be open to His voice without any filter—a voice that always woos me sweetly into those places where risk and faith lead to the joy of adventure with Him.
By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. Nehemiah 9:19
