What to Expect on Your Journey with God – Part 1
Your journey with God will be unique and personal. It will not be exactly like anyone else’s journey in life. As you go, there will be many lessons to be learned along the way. There will be times of exhilaration and pure joy. There will also be hardships and struggles. There may be times when you feel like things could not get any better, and there may be other times when you feel like giving up.
Many, many people are also on their own personal journeys with God in life. You are not alone. You can find help, encouragement, and wise counsel in the experiences of others who have faced challenging situations in life, and have overcome the difficulties and pitfalls, and have come out stronger and wiser on the other side, even closer to God than they were before.
God gives us many examples in the Bible of ordinary men and women who overcame serious problems in life and grew to become strong, healthy, and mature men and women of God. The life lessons that we can learn from these great examples are priceless!
Abraham was one of these ordinary men who overcame the challenges he faced and became a spiritual father to all those who believe in the One True God. We can learn many important life lessons from the life of Abraham. His life can be seen as a pattern for all who follow.
Thirsting for More
Abraham’s journey with God started in a place called Haran. This has meaning, just as everything written in the Bible has meaning for us. “Haran” means “parched.” It also means “a road.”
Before he began his journey in life with God, Abraham was in a place that was “parched.” Maybe you were feeling the same way before you found God. If you were parched, you were very thirsty. You needed more in life than what you had. You were at a place where you felt an intense need to find meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in life because what you had up to that point was not enough. There had to be more in life than what you were experiencing!
This was the situation of the woman at the well. She was desperate to find meaning in life when she met Jesus. He was the answer to the parched feeling of deep thirst that she had for something more.
“Jesus responded, ‘If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, “Give me some water to drink,” you would be asking him and he would give you living water.’ “The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you don’t have a bucket and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water? You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave this well to us, and he drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.’ “Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.’ “The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water!’”—John 4:10-15 (CEB)
Only Jesus can satisfy that thirst for what is missing in your life. Ultimately, He is the source of life and all that is good in life.
“Jesus stood and called out [in a loud voice], ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink!’”—John 7:37 (AMP)
“Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”— John 6:35 (NLT)
On the Road
When Abraham was living in Haran, God called him. Haran also means “a road.” This is where Abraham’s journey began. At that time, he was known as Abram.
“Now [in Haran] the Lord had said to Abram, “Go away from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you” —Genesis 12:1 (AMP)
When you felt God calling you, He was calling you into a new life. When you answered His call your life started going in a new direction.
He was also calling you to leave other things behind. Just like Abram, you may have sensed that God was calling you to leave the life that you had known, with all of the familiar ways of doing things, and move into a life that was new and different.
This may have caused a separation between you and your family and friends, just as it did for Abram.
But this is important. You cannot move into the new life without leaving the old behind. You may have experienced conflicts with your friends and family because of your decision to follow Jesus Christ. It is always best to try to live with people in peace as much as possible, but in some cases, you may have to choose between following Jesus and pleasing your family and friends.
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live in peace with all people.”—Romans 12:18 (ISV)
The Promises
The reason you made the decision to follow Jesus was because of what He promised you. You may not have heard His voice directly, but maybe you just had a sense that Jesus could give you what you had been searching for in life. Maybe you were searching for purpose, or truth, or security, or something else, and you came to the realization that Jesus could give you what you were looking for.
It was the same with Abram. God called Abram to leave his old life behind and to follow His leading, and God gave Abram solid reasons to follow Him by promising to give Abram the desires of his heart. Abram followed God because God promised to give Him a much better future.
“And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you [abundantly], And make your name great (exalted, distinguished); And you shall be a blessing [a source of great good to others];
“And I will bless (do good for, benefit) those who bless you, And I will curse [that is, subject to My wrath and judgment] the one who curses (despises, dishonors, has contempt for) you. And in you all the families (nations) of the earth will be blessed.” —Genesis 12:2-3 (AMP)
God is good! He is always good. He wants you to know that, no matter what you need or deeply desire in life, He wants to meet those needs and to completely satisfy those desires in the best ways possible. He wants to lead you into a wonderful, amazing, fulfilling life and to help you avoid destructive influences.
No matter what you need and deeply desire in life, God has promises to fulfill those needs and desires.
“Through his honor and glory he has given us his precious and wonderful promises, that you may share the divine nature and escape from the world’s immorality that sinful craving produces.”—2 Peter 1:4 (CEB)
“Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?”—Romans 8:32 (NLT)
“Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you. Because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened.”—Matthew 7:7-8 (ISV)
