Don't Squander the Wander!

“Where the geography of hope meets the geography of reality.”

A documentary on Lewis and Clark proclaimed this deep truth as it explained how the explorers were headed across America, trying to find an assumed easy water route from coast to coast.

Ah, yes. Just coast along the beautiful waters in our little boat, and we will discover great things. Yep. That was the plan. Until the upstream struggles, the mosquitoes, weather, the unending prairies, and travel sicknesses got in their way. No matter. They’d do it.

They had hope in the geography they expected to see.

Until the mountains got in their way.

Until the river met its headwaters before the coast was reached.

At that moment, Lewis and Clark were left with a stark contrast to process.

The geography of hope met the geography of reality.

Wow. Stopped me in my tracks when I heard it, and still can’t shake it. Guys, we’ve all been there. You might be right there in this millisecond of life. Where the geography of hope meets the geography of reality. In our lives. In our situation. Today.

Think it through with me. Traveling along your road of life, hoping to see what you think you need to see over the next hill, around the next bend, and poof.

You get there only to find it isn’t anything like you imagined, and nothing like you dreamed.

Reality is real. And it ain’t interested in hearing about what you thought it would be like. It just is. Real. Really real. Sweaty, dirty, difficult, and challenging. Really not our best idea of living the good life.

At the intersection of hope and reality we have a choice.

Will we tuck tail and run back where we came from in defeat, or will we take the deepest breath our lungs will hold, stand a little straighter in our walking shoes, and set off into the real realness of the reality presented to us, knowing that the only hope we have ever been able to cling to is the hope we have in Christ?

Ah, hope in Christ.

The things that lead us to this perfect path, His path, are rarely the easy things. Hardly ever the things our cotton candy hopefulness of youth conjure up in a daydream. Nah, hope in Christ comes from the reality of knowing that we cannot go one more step without Him, and certainly can’t overcome the battles and struggles and challenges and impending defeats without His power and presence and love and guidance and Spirit.

In that millisecond decision, when we look, logically assess, and then lovingly submit to God’s plan, amazing things begin to happen. The mountain doesn’t go away, the Mountain Maker shows us the peaceful valley path in the midst of the rocky terrain. God makes our path straight, He makes our victory secure. He leads us to still waters.

The Holy Spirit guides, directs, empowers, comforts, soothes, and equips.

With Jesus we will most certainly get to the other side of that difficulty to actually celebrate the reality of the geography, and will find ourselves resting in a geography of hope bigger that we could ever imagine.

Greater than we could have ever asked for.

And more perfect than any plan we make in our quest to explore this life we’ve been given.

Why? Because we will have walked through this life holding hands with the One who loves us and has already provided a way when there seems to be no way. Jesus will show Himself faithful, and we will see that He has been there all along. For our good. To give us a hope and a future. And He knew the geography all along.