I think that the heart of every man longs for adventure. In the deep place of a man’s soul there is an inexhaustible desire to be a part of something bigger than himself. Something that draws out of him as if by demand the potential and purpose and destiny of his life. He wants to discover something of such worth that it deserves everything he is, like the treasure hidden in the field. It’s why men go to war, why they chase after the most beautiful girls, why they seek to explore and conquer the unknown. It’s why men build homes and families, because there as in few other places the adventure is truly deserving of the cost. And it is why I’m starting a new adventure! Stepping into God’s call for me to head out to the wilds of Africa, not knowing what I will discover or what I will encounter, simply makes me come alive. It sets my heart going! I cannot wait to see what God has in store. I don’t know where he’ll lead me, or what he’ll have me do along the way, but of one thing I am sure: following Jesus is always the most extravagant and the most demanding adventure.
When Jesus said “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”, he wanted us to recognise that everyone spends themselves in the cause of something, that much is inevitable. The only uncertainty is whether they will discover something that is actually deserving of their heart. And so it is such a tragedy when a man believes, for whatever reason, that he has plumbed the depths of what life has in store for him. It’s a tragedy when the great discovery of a man’s life is the belief that there is nothing worth discovering, nothing worthy of cost, no true adventure to which he is called. That’s the making of a lifelong sleep-walker. He bumbles about, never really questioning the direction in which he’s moving because he’s stopped believing that there is a destiny for him to walk into. Wake up, man! The only thing that could possibly disqualify you from your destiny is an unwillingness to step into it. Every man’s heart longs for adventure because adventure is what he was made for. He was called to discovery, but he stops longing for it because he stops dreaming of undiscovered lands. The world rips the idea out of him. Actually, it just cements over it. Like the people of Columbus’ day who urged him not to set sail, not to venture beyond the realm of the known world for fear of falling off its edge, today we have our own fainthearted land-dwellers to contend with. A man is told that “day-dreaming is for children.” In church, he might be told that he needs to be humble, and humility means putting away dreams of changing the world in exchange for simply sweeping the floor - doing the busy work. Yet look to all the great heroes of our heritage. Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Francis of Assisi, Jesus himself. The greatest impact upon the world is made by those who dream with audacious imagination and live with radical servanthood. Dreaming big is not worth much if you’re not willing to sweep the floor. That’s how the world is changed, evidently. John Eldredge says that “a man’s life becomes an adventure when he releases control in exchange for the recovery of the dreams in his heart.” What God desperately desires for his mighty men is that they would recognise their freedom and their duty to dream. It will set the church ablaze! Dreams will guide us into adventure, and the ultimate adventure into which we are called is an exploration into the heart of God. Of that much I am certain! It is a treasure of unmatchable worth. In the reckless adventure of a life spent with God discovery is never satisfied. Exploration is unending, even into eternity. Like the words of Newton’s anthem (which I’m positive will be in heaven’s hymn book):
“When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.”
One taste of the limitless love of God and your soul is never satisfied until it lays a hold of more. Like Columbus, your dream becomes an adventure, and as adventure gives birth to discovery you will not rest until you discover more. Like Columbus, you will have to go back for a second voyage. And a third. And a fourth. I’m following Jesus to Africa because my heart aches for the adventure of a life spent with God. I hope that I’ll discover his compassion, his love, his power and his big, big dreams for Africa. More than anything I hope that I will go deeper into his heart. It is the ultimate adventure, because the heart of God is a land many have discovered, some have explored, few have inhabited and none have conquered.
