Where?

 "Then Jesus turned to the twelve and asked, 'Are you going to leave too?' Simon Peter replied, 'Lord, to whom would we go? You alone have the words that give eternal life.' " John 6:67-68

In my prayer journal I have written the question, "Will we follow Him even if this is not the life we wanted?"

In a church culture that likes to emphasize all the "benefits" of being a follower of Christ, that He has a "wonderful plan for our lives," such a question is not much considered. That's likely the reason so many suffer shipwreck to their faith. They balked at going down the path that Christ was leading them to and on. That's what happened in John 6. A crowd was following Him up to the moment when He told them that to come after Him meant that they had to do so with every fiber of their being. Commitment had to be total and final. The crowd had been mesmerized by His miracles and wonders. They loved the good bread and fishes he gave out. Giving their all to Him without a guarantee of it continuing was more than they wanted. They turned back. Thus the question Jesus had for the remaining 12. Would they leave as well? Peter answered for all: "Lord, where would we go? Where can we go? There is life in no one and nothing else." 

If such a place and question has not been reached by you and asked of you by Him, I believe it will be, and perhaps much sooner than you think or want. Especially as concerns the days we are living in. Comfort and ease as an expected lifestyle may well be passing away, at least as concerns the outward things. They were a mirage to begin with. When they do, many will turn back. Would you? Will you? 

I had such a time come into my life. I've shared before about some of the deep losses I've experienced, so I won't go too much into them here. Suffice to say, I know what it's like to have the stark reality of having lost most everything dear to me, and then have that question asked of me. Would I turn back from Him? Would I leave Him and look elsewhere for life? In my pain and loss and in my doubts and questions, I still could come to only one answer and one conclusion: to whom would I go? Where would I go? I knew I couldn't go back to the lifestyle of drugs and parties and the attempt to dull all the pain through them. I already knew that this would lead to my death. I also knew that even though this current place was one I would never have wanted or chosen, and was a place where He seemed absent, a place where all my questions remained, a place where anger and doubt could creep in, it was not a place that could take away a reality I knew was true. That reality was Him. I had experienced Him enough prior to all this that I knew He was real. I knew He was a miracle working Lord. I knew to seek another way was death. The way He called me to, with all the loss, pain, and risk, with all the questions, was the way I had to go. Where else could I go? He had the words of life. He still does.

We are coming into days where we may encounter challenges, losses, and heartaches to the degree we never thought possible. In those places, we'll be faced with that choice: will we turn back from Him or will we go on with Him? How will you answer? Is your reality with Him so deep and true that you can answer with Peter, "Where will I go? You alone have words of life. You alone give life." I know this; You, we, need to have the answer before He asks. Have you already determined that nothing, absolutely nothing will cause you to turn back from Him? If not, I exhort you to do so now. If you wait for the crisis to happen, you may not have the strength or faith to choose Him. Neither Peter or any of the other disciples had any idea of the trials and challenges yet to come for them. They would stumble, even fail Him in the midst of it all, but they wouldn't turn back.He also knew that though they might fall down, their hearts would not let them stay down or go away from Him. The choice of whose they were had been fully made. Has it been made with you? Will you make it now....before the crisis comes? Where will you go? Where are going right now?

Blessings,
Pastor O