Into The Unknown…
06.18.23
“Where are you going? Don’t leave me alone! How do I follow you into the unknown?”
(Surprise, surprise, another song reference in a devotional.)
This is the last line to the epic song of discovery for Elsa from the now classic Frozen series of Disney movies. Now, I recognize that the lyric in the context of the movie is about self-discovery, but I think the statement translates perfectly into the dynamics of faith that we find at the beginning of Moses’ story. The idea of sending away a helpless child in the hopes that everything would work out for good takes an extreme amount of faith. That is a no-brainer. Everything that had to take place for Moses to make it from the river to parting the seas is a beautiful picture of the unstoppable Hand of God at work to rescue and redeem us.
Back to the song… Throughout this biblical narrative, imagine how many times this question was asked of God. “Where are you going with this??” “Did you leave me alone in this??” “How do I follow you into the unknown??”Now, take a moment and think about how many times we ask those same questions of God.
As you think on the circumstances of the biblical story, and think on the circumstances you have faced that spark these questions, we feel that middle part, don’t we? There is another question we often ask, “Am I alone??” At this point, I want us to take those thoughts and experiences, and think on this statement.
“If loving God can also mean loving people, having faith in God also means having faith in people.”
Now, I don’t mean having faith that people can accomplish things that only God can do (salvation, creation, etc.) What I mean is that even in the epic story of Moses, faith in God had to be fleshed out in some form of having faith in people.
Faith, like all fruit of the Spirit, are experienced in relationship. We also talk often about how the fruit of the Spirit are all rooted in the love of God. That being said, it would seem that our expressions of love for God (and others) needs to also at times be fleshed out by expressions of faith (trust) in God and others.
Just like the Exodus narrative of Moses’ beginning notes, trust is not just earned, it is also given. That’s why it is no coincidence that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth that love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” (1 Corinthians 13:7-8) Whether we admit it or not, our lives are exercises in trusting others all the time. God works through parents, teachers, doctors, mentors, neighbors, pastors, to support, protect, and guide us on the path for our lives.
When we find ourselves in moments when we are asking (or singing) those questions at the top, maybe we need to prayerfully consider the ways we can exercise (give and receive) love from God and others by exercising faith (trust) in God and others.
There are two realities that we should always remember.
We were not created to be alone…
and…
We are never truly alone.
That last one is tough because I am not saying that there are not times where we absolutely are disconnected and feel alone. Those feelings are real, and those feelings are heavy and painful. What I am saying is that the redeeming work of Jesus is reconnecting us back to Him and back to each other. So, when we find ourselves in those places of feeling alone or feeling like we cannot face our next unknown by ourselves, that is our spirit revealing that we need each other.
And people do break that trust, so I am also not saying that does not happen. But when that happens, we cannot let that cause us to reject the truth of God’s will for communion. If we are ever going to be able to live out a healthy intimacy with God and each other, we need remember to be open to our calling to need (and trust) each other.
So, our last question should be, “what are some examples of how we’ve had to trust in others to help us become who we are today?”