In six days we will be setting out for Germany. There are many small things to be done, but the thing I feel most compelled to keep before me is this work of pilgrimage in trust through the landscape of uncertainty.

I spent the morning walking and praying. Concentrating on sabbath rest was a bit easier. I gave myself to walking the entire lake and sitting in silence. As I sat I focused my prayer and adoration through repeating, “Lord, you are good! Lord, you are gracious! Lord, you are good! Lord, you are generous! Lord, you are good! Lord, your love endures forever!”

The story that Alexa shared at retreat continues to resonate in my spirit. She shared of when she decided to leave a job she loved and became obsessed with the story of the centurion who comes to ask Jesus to heal his servant (Mark 8:5-13). When Jesus agrees to go and heal the servant, the soldier tells Jesus he does not need to come. The soldier is a man who understands authority and knows that Jesus’ power is such that he only needs to say the word.

Alexa shared her amazement that apparently the soldier grasped something that Jesus had not yet seen, revealing a depth of faith that Jesus praised. God uses peculiar messengers to guide us and give us direction.

She shared her own expectant seeking for how God might reveal his calling and direction for her next steps. Who might be her equivalent to Jesus’ gentile Roman soldier? She was looking, listening and waiting.

An old scripture comes to mind. Possibly the first verses I ever committed to memory. After writing on faith as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see,” the writer of Hebrews goes onto record a litany of ancients who lived by faith (Hebrews 11). Then in the first three verses of Hebrews 12, he writes…

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before hime endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

What is it that hinders and entangles? What is it that causes my heart to falter and fail? How might I fix my eyes and ears on Jesus…looking, listening and waiting?

O, Lord open my eyes and ears to your unexpected and peculiar voices of guidance as I journey through this pilgrimage of trust.