As recently as yesterday I gave an illustration that looked like this in Sunday School.
And here is what I said, God has a path for us to walk, a life to live, His will to follow and it was indicated by the straight line.
Then I added that the curvy line illustrates the path/life/will we take. Furthermore, when we get off the straight line we will hear God’s voice guiding us how to get back to where we ought to be.
“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.” (Isaiah 30:21, ESV)
I think I have been wrong in using this illustration and led others to the same conclusion. I actually think that this illustration is part of our problem in the Christian life. All straight lines look the same and they do appear the easy path. So, we all try to take the same path, live the same life and see God total will for our lives as identical. Well, they are not. So, I want to use the same illustration and change the parts. The curvy line is my life following God and the straight line is the one I think I should have or deserve. Let me illustrate it like this.
The straight line does not have any of the difficulties or successes in it. It does not indicate things in my childhood. It does not indicate my parents divorce. It does not indicate my marriage and the death of my grandmother one month later. It does not indicate having children, changing jobs, my mother's death, Mary Anne's dad's death, the start of Lord of the Harvest or Harvest Church. It does not show when God saved me and then called me to preach. My life has been curvy and God was always there to navigate the curves. My life has been far from a straight line. I have had time of deep doubt, discouragement and depression. I have also had some mountain top experiences and some great successes and yes I have had some brief times in my life when it was straight, but very few. So the illustration works but it need to be reversed. Let us quit trying to walk this straight line and just walk the path that God has for us with all the curves and His guidance.
So, today pay attention because on the curvy road you cannot put you life on cruise control it is VFR (visual flight rules) just listen to that voice - IT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Hi Bro. Dan,
ReplyDeleteYou did two things in this post that I have not seen many preachers/pastors do.
1. You said you were wrong. That in itself impresses me. Openness and vulnerability like that is sadly rare in spiritual leaders today.
And I agree with your point. The curvy line definitely fits our walk better than the straight line. I'm sure Moses didn't think he was on a straight line to leading his countrymen when he was tending sheep. I imagine King David would fit the same situation, but they were being formed for God's service. And while my life doesn't feel like a straight line right now, I know God is working. Thanks for that reminder; I needed that.
2. You gave people permission to follow the Holy Spirit. While a lot of our churches teach about the Holy Spirit not many encourage believers to learn to listen to it themselves. Too often we encourage the opposite (possibly unintentionally) by trying to encourage them to listen to us or follow a formula for our lives. I can't wait to see what God does with Harvest Church if the people are learning to listen to the Holy Spirit and act on His prompting.
Sorry for the wordiness of my comments. Bottom line, thanks for a great post. It really encouraged me today.