How many times in life do you find yourself in what feels like "the space between?" Maybe you are going from one job to another job, or maybe leaving one house to go to a new house. Right now we are living with my In-laws as we get ready for our next big chapter in Africa, so we are currently in a space between where we are coming from one home, and heading to the next. We have our next baby on the way in March and we are absolutely thrilled, but with each new chapter comes new risks, and leaps of faith that must be made.
We recently went to a travel medicine doctor to get things in order for the shots we need to go overseas, and he was very concerned about us going to Africa with young children, especially a newborn, because of the disease Malaria which can be deadly to young children and strongly advised us against going and said the probability that our newborn would die was very high. I would like to emphasize that this doctor I believe only has our best interests at heart, and probably is legally required to warn of any possible threats to our health. We are not strangers to the dangers of malaria and have already traveled with young children to Kenya, but still this was obviously hard advice to hear still, and what can make "the space between" such a paradoxical place to be. We, as any parent would, only want the best for our children and pray for health and wellness in relation to God's will, yet we have been called to GO no matter the risk or fears we have. When we were called to go to Asia we had to believe that God was bigger than the unknowns and fears of persecution, and so we WENT. And we found ourselves thriving right in the center of God's will spreading the love of Christ to those we came in contact with amidst a city of 7 million people! GOING is not always easy, but we have to push forward and do what we know we are called to do and living in God’s will brings perfect peace.
This "space between" and these choices we are called to make in life reminds me of the scene in the famous Indiana Jones movie where he has to take the leap of faith over the bottomless cavern. He had to decide whether he was going to believe or not and whether he was going to put faith in the mission he was on and risk death to pursue it.
Many of us have heard the saying, "Life is not about the destination, it is about the journey" and I love this mindset in the sense of making sure I am not taking for granted where I am in hopes of something better, yet in the larger sense we should be living as Christ did with an eternal mindset which will guide our steps to be of the most earthly good. So whatever you are going through or whatever obstacle seems to be in your way, just know and be encouraged that when you take those leaps of faith God is right there with you and you will land on solid ground.
Philippians 3:12-21 New International Version (NIV)
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Following Paul’s Example
15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach,and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.