The IRONMAN Life As I Know It...Yes and Amen!

Hello friends! I just got finished biking a quick 20 miles and as I was riding, the thought suddenly occurred to me--I'm doing a half IRONMAN (70.3 miles, swim, bike, run) in 40 days! How I misplaced this reality, I know not...but I'm doing it and I've gotta say I'm beginning to get excited. Now, in all honesty, I am a little nervous--why? Not because I'm not perfectly capable of such a feat. I know I am and with Christ in me--the Hope of Glory--I can do anything. I sincerely mean that, live it, breath it, consume and believe this truth with all that is in me. I'm a little nervous because I don't really know what to expect. I've seen the course maps, the elevation tables, the water-way channel, etc. But seeing it on paper is so very different than actually living it out and doing it. Which brings me to this thought: What if Jesus came to me and said, "Kristen, here is the map of your life. I've marked out every turn, every ascent, every descent, every curve, every fork,every bump, every crossroad...Now go and live it." Whoa...Now, who hasn't ever said to the Lord, "Father, please show me what your plans are for my life. Please give me direction...Holy Spirit lead me in the way I should go..." I believe we all have, multiple times, if not daily. How would we respond if Our Heavenly Father--the God of the Universe, Creator of time and space, master builder and architect of our salvation; author and perfecter of our faith, the Great Counselor, the Good Shepherd, The Spring of Living Water, The Lover of Our Souls, Our Husband, Our Friend, Our Redeemer, Our greatest Joy, the Love of Our Lives---actually came down and handed us the very map of our lives--the very fabric on which our name is written--composed by the greatest "soul topographer" of all time---How would you respond? At first, I would think, "Woo hoo! Thank you Jesus! Now I know what to expect...life is gonna be so much easier now that I know EXACTLY where I should go." But then I imagine this scene unfolding: I catch a glimpse of Jesus' gaze as He watches me. He's memorizing every expression, every line on my face as I delight in the map of my life I'm holding in my hands. His eyes meet mine, they hold onto me forever--He's unmoved--fixed...steady...determined not to break our gaze. Words are unnecessary--I feel, hear, see and taste His heart for me. He is Love--extraordinary, other worldly love personified. Then I realize, my need. My greatest need is not the map of my life I held in my hands. Even with the knowledge of the course my life would take, I still would be unable to fathom how exactly every step, turn, every curve or every climb would play out. I wouldn't know how I would feel--what I would experience. The sounds, the tastes, the people, the faces; the joy, the pain, the tears, the laughter, the smiles--I would not know any of this. I would know that in the beginning I started out at point A and that in the end I will make it to point Z. I would have so many questions about the in between! I'm reminded of a quote--I'll have to paraphrase:" The lover of life lives; the liver of life loves." Which brings me to the greatest orator of all time, Jesus: The Living Word. "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life, will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will surely save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Mark 8:34-37.
John 14:1-20, 1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going." 5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."

9Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. 15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another, The Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

So Jesus totally blew that pion of a paraphrased quote out of the water! And now onto my greatest need...I don't need to know what will happen. I can't believe I just said that. Anyone who knows me, knows that in general I am anticipating what exactly will happen next in any given situation. I come up with at least 5 different scenarios for any given situation--and most of the time, one of them does happen. You see, I'm not so much interested in how the end will play out--most of the time I want to know "who" "what" "where" "when" and "why"---I'm a little foolish at times in this. Mainly in consideration of my life. I think to myself, "If I knew what the next point is in my life, I could run full force directly at it." But would that bring any relief? Momentarily. But then I would want to know what the next point is, and the next after that, and so on and so on. For what? Just to know? No. Because I want to know that everything will work out. That I will "run with perseverance the race marked out for me." I don't need to know everything. My greatest need is JESUS. All of God's promises are Yes in Christ. And so through Him is spoken the YES and AMEN by the Father. God's promises to me are made YES in Christ. Jesus is the Father's AMEN spoken to us. God doesn't just say Yes to us. He sees us and raises us one with Jesus--THE AMEN to us. What I need is what I already have: Christ in me, the HOPE OF GLORY. "Jesus, do you love me?" "Yes, I love you." "Jesus, are you always with me?" "Yes, I am always with you--I will never leave you." "Jesus do you have good plans for my life?" "Yes." "Jesus, is there a place for me with you?" "Yes." "Jesus, do you think I'm funny?" "Yes." "Jesus, do you think I'm beautiful?" "Yes." "Jesus, am I covered, kept, taken care of; watched over, fought for, delighted in, sung over, celebrated?" "Yes and Amen."

Are you with me on this? My hope for myself and the body of Christ is that we would dare to believe...that our lives would be the living expression of faith in His word, Hope in His promise and Love in His presence. I need Him. I don't need a map. Jesus is the GPS of my soul.