Just Ride

So through a lot of the situations that I've been in and watching others ask the same questions I've come up with some conclusions.

We as humans have a bad habit of asking the question "why". If you have ever spent one single Sunday morning in a church nursery, you'll understand what I mean. You tell a kid to stop chewing on the toys... "Why?" You tell the little girl that she shouldn't spin her skirt so high... "Why?" You tell the little boy that he shouldn't color on the walls... "Why?" Suddenly we resort to answering with the 4 words that we all know... "Because I said so."

In a similar fashion, growing up we'd pile into the van with a specific destination in mind. On occasion dad would take a detour.... an unplanned route, the long way... Whatever you want to call it. Either way, it was not the way that I knew or wanted to take or thought he was going to take. This would always raise the question of... "Dad, where are you going?" or "Dad, why did you go that way?" or "Dad, where are you taking me? I thought we were going to destination-B." The answer was always the same... "Just ride."

I'm starting to think that the answer in life is a lot like what dad said... Just ride.

Often times we sit in the backseat of life asking God... "Why?" or "Where?" or "What?" And nine times out of ten, at least in my life, the answer is... "just ride."

I think sometimes we sit around and ask God these questions and it immobilizes us. We're too caught up in the questions to actually ENJOY the ride. Dad never gave me a straight answer, yet let me learn why, where, and how on the journey. If I spent the entire ride questioning or criticizing I would have missed out on some great moments of my life.... Playing the air guitar while he took the drums, long talks, or even beautiful sights... It is these rides that I remember most.

In life we can either sit and bellyache at God because he's not doing things the way we would have done them and complain the whole time - or even just ask the all encompassing "why". Or we can enjoy time with God learning. We can play with Him and laugh with Him. We can discover new and beautiful things and places that we can go... If we just ride.

Instead of looking at the questions, we start looking at the answers. The answers are most often evident. Right in front of you really... You have to stop looking in the rear view mirror or thinking that your way is the better way. If you ride with your eyes wide open, looking for the good - instead of riding with your eyes tightly shut because we don't trust that He knows where He's going - you'll learn a lot about the character of God, about your purpose in life, and about the greater purpose of humanity and the church.

So to answer the question of... "If we are the body, why aren't His hands reaching, why aren't His feet going?" I would say that it's because we're too caught up in ourselves and too intent on asking why instead of walking and doing...

To quote a Kutless song that was playing on my drive home:

In You we're living
In You we're moving
In You we're finding who we are

Make sure you're LIVING. Make sure you're MOVING. Don't get so stagnant in your questions that you aren't living, growing, or learning...