Journey With Me to the Unsafe Places.

A few weeks back, when Matt and I were visiting a church south of town, I “heard” the Lord say something to me during the service. Now keep in mind, I am Pentecostal, but it isn’t often that this happens. But I recognize it when it does. It’s not audible per se- it is just there, like a thought is being impressed into my mind so strongly that I cannot ignore it. What I heard was:

“Journey with me to the unsafe places.”

My immediate response was “I will”. That has, for most of my life (not counting a few rebellious periods) been my heart toward the Lord. I have vivid memories of praying when I was little and telling the Lord that I would go anywhere, and do anything He asked me to do. It didn’t matter what. But somewhere along the way, life got more complicated. And I began to play it safe.

For me, hearing this word at that particular time seemed strange. I had already quit my full-time job and taken a three-week journey across the country, encountering all types of exciting and “risky” moments. Wasn’t that unsafe? But what I realized is that was just the beginning. That physical journey was what it took for me to break free spiritually. That was the starting point of my new life of complete trust and abandon. Over the past six months, the Lord had simply been preparing me for it.

Interestingly enough, I am now volunteering with a local pastor who works with the homeless, impoverished and addicted individuals in Nashville. He spends his time between meetings with high-powered pastors and executives, and handing out blankets, clothes and food in forgotten places to forgotten people. He tells their story to anyone who will listen, and brings congregations together who want to make a difference in people’s lives. Yesterday we were driving in a really rough area, looking for a girl who is on the streets and suffering from addiction. As he got out of the car, he told me “don’t get out- I’ll leave the car on just in case.” And it hit me. The unsafe places.

The Lord was asking me to follow Him to those places both physically and spiritually. To go into the places where only His protection can cover me, where I am forced to fully trust Him.  To reach out to those who are in dangerous and precarious situations, who need to know that the only safe place they can turn is to Jesus. And to realize that like them, I must trust the Lord to pull me out of my own addictions- self-reliance, pride, materialism, envy, greed, and fear. We’re all the same underneath, and we all need to know that there is a God who loves us and will never steer us wrong. And even though life has thrown a few curveballs, I can plainly see God at work in every moment.