Exploring

In this life, along with being pilgrims, we are explorers.  Aside from the assertion of Solomon that there is "nothing new under the sun," we are constantly discovering new things.  Human beings have a need for knowledge, and a need to see what's on the "other side of the fence."  Sometimes it's a search for greener pastures, but sometimes it's just plain curiosity.

I think God understood this trait of his created children.  As I read the Bible, I am amazed at how He brought us along, year after year, century after century, revealing things a little at a time.  It's almost like reading a mystery.  What will happen next?  Why was this law instated?  Why is one king raised up while another is defeated?  Why can we never get to the end of space?

As we read along, we find that many of the questions are answered in the Bible itself.  Many others have been answered by archaeology or science.  Writers and preachers have illuminated the Word for us, so that we are constantly seeing more of the picture.  And then you get to the end.

We are studying the book of Revelation now at our Church's Bible Study.  It's an extremely interesting, hard, and somewhat terrifying book to study.  But it's the last book, right?  So it tells the end of the story.  Hey!  What's this?  John is told to stop writing.  He's not allowed to write some of the things he sees.  What???!!  I've gone this far, and I can't know the end???!!

We really want to know the end.  We want to know the whole plan.  We want to have an itemized itinerary.  But God isn't like that.  He asks us to follow him without knowing where we're going.  He requires trust and faith.  He tells us that He knows the plans he has for us.  He tells us that no man knows when the end will come, but the Father.  So why do we have this urge to know?

I think God wants us to keep searching until we find Him.  He alone is the end of the story.  He calls himself the "Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End."  So, all of our wandering and exploring can only end when we truly find God.  I've heard it said that we are born with a "God-sized hole" in our hearts.  We can try to fill that hole up with everything and everyone in the world, but we will never truly be content until we fill it up with God.  It's kind of like trying to finish the Elmo puzzle with a piece from the kitty cat puzzle (sorry, I have a 3-year-old!).  It just won't fit, and it wouldn't look right if it did.  Our hearts would still be incomplete.

So, as you're going through life, whether you're wandering aimlessly, or striding with purpose, make sure that the road you're on is leading you to the right End.  Is the book you're reading, the show you're watching, even the job you're doing or the house you're cleaning one more paving stone toward God, or is it taking you down another path altogether?  Are the people and things in your life helping you onward, or holding you back?  I know it's hard when you can't see the next road sign, but we really have to make every step count.  It's like a flashlight in the dark.  It works best if you illuminate the path right in front of you, not something off in the distance.  Walk in faith, one step at a time.