How to Adventure with God
Updated: Dec 5, 2020
Most of us can testify to the fact that life is filled with surprises.
Nothing ever goes exactly as planned and depending on your personality, this can either be exciting or frustrating.
However, it is possible to not only tolerate the surprises but to embrace them with joy.
Some of my favorite words from Jesus are, “I have come so that you may have life and have it to the fullest!” He wants us to live joyful lives and teaches us to surrender to what He has planned.
In keeping with our theme of trust, I would like to explore a little bit about how it is possible to enjoy the crazy adventure of life without knowing what lies ahead.
As Jojo mentioned in her blog post, "The Covid Curse of the Single Young Maiden"many of us single ladies struggle with questions about our future.
Some of us are beginning our twenties with hopes of marriage and ‘happily ever afters’ as soon as humanly possible.
Maybe some of us are in our thirties or forties, still wondering if we will meet that special someone.
It’s not always easy to deal with our circumstances when there is so much uncertainty, but if we can master the following concepts, we will find that it is not so bad after all.
Trust in God, the good Father
The only way to have this peace in an unstable world is by having trust in a good God who controls all things.
In “Searching for and Maintaining peace: A small Treatise on Peace of Heart ”by Fr. Jacques Phillipe, he uses an illustration which always helps me when I'm overwhelmed with uncertainty.
In this book, Fr. Phillipe invites us to remember what we were like when we were children.
God invites us to be His little children always, trusting in His plans and knowing that He our
Heavenly Daddy will always find a way.
Nothing pleases God like true childlike trust in Him.
Remember God's love for you
Another key thing for us to remember is that God loves us.
He cares deeply for each one of us and knows everything about us.
Jesus says in Luke Chapter 7, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
This is a truth that we sometimes take for granted but if we really believe it, it can change the reality of our day to day lives.
As much as you are concerned about your vocation, your love life and your future, God is
infinitely more concerned about it.
God wants your happiness and He wants your love.
It’s okay to trust that He has a beautiful plan for you in which you will be happy- whether that may be marriage, lifelong singleness or religious life.
His plans are always better than anything we could ever imagine, and He loves to spoil us as any good father does.
Not all adventures are smooth sailing
Is this to say that we will never have to endure suffering?
Of course not.
As Catholics in particular, we know that there is no joy of the Resurrection without the pain of the Cross.
All true love must contain some element of sacrifice.
It is only through sharing in the cross of our Saviour that we can be purified and become like Him.
However we must have faith that He will be with us, beside us every step of the way, to hold our hand and give us strength, until He leads us to our everlasting reward where there will be no more pain.
Psalm 23
I would like to end with the beloved Psalm 23, in which David tells us about how he
adventured with God.
Sometimes he crossed green pastures, sometimes he went through the Valley of Death, but he knew that with God as His good Shepherd, he had nothing to fear.