If you allow God to write your story, to be your conductor, to be your captain then you WILL live a life of adventure, awe, and wonder.
Live Adventurously Expectant
Krista Hengesh
If you allow God to write your story, to be your conductor, to be your captain then you WILL live a life of adventure, awe, and wonder. It won’t be comfortable, easy, or even make sense most of the time, but it will be the best life you can live. You are only given one life, 80+ years on this earth (God willing), so I think it best if you live it out to the full every possible moment and day you can.
The Adventurous Adventure
I write this post as I am sitting on a bus from Bend to Portland, Oregon. When I make this drive (which I do very often), it takes about 3 hours, online the bus website said it should take about 3 hours and 45 minutes, but… today will be a different story. Because of the arctic wonderland that has moved in the past few days, the bus is already chained up and we are still miles away from Portland. Given that the fastest you can drive with chains is 35 mph, AND that there was close to a foot of snowfall in Portland last night, it is looking like my trip home is going to be closer to 6 or 7 hours instead of under 4.
As we were stopped at a Circle K for a rest stop with numb toes from the lack of heat in the bus and a hurting butt from the hard seats, I found myself in a rather negative mindset thinking about how annoying all of these random setbacks are which quickly tumbled into questioning why I am even pursuing this crazy calling on my life.
- “Why God do I have to deal with all of this weather stuff? You have already called me to do something so far out of my comfort zone with putting on these conferences and now I am not even able to get from point A to point B to get stuff done that I have to get done for YOUR event?”
- “Why is all of this responsibility falling on me? Why did you call me to this ambitious calling when my other friends get the security of a 9-to-5-twice-a-month-paycheck-job-with-benefits?”
- “Why do I have to sacrifice my comfort, my money, my free time, my resources for a calling that I don’t even know is going to be received by people and ACTUALLY have a lasting impact on their lives?”
- “Why do I have to be on this dumb bus when I could be back at home watching and playing in the beautiful snow instead of being inconvenienced by all of it?”
“Why God, why?”
These thoughts (and more) were flying through my head as I was wrestling with Him browsing the gas station aisles for food that was going to sustain me for the next 6 hours. Then… I swore I heard God, and he whispered all so humbly this question in my mind:
“Well… why did Jesus go through everything He did on the cross? Do you think your problems are worse than His?”
And then my thoughts, pride, and comfort were silenced right away.
Jesus’ Sacrifice + Example
What Jesus went through leading up to the cross to save us of our sins is far more than anything I will ever go through. What He went through to bring us redemption and into a personal relationship with Him is way more work and pain that I will ever experience. What Jesus went through on the cross out of love is something that I will never be able to understand nor do myself.
Jesus went through all of that pain, ridicule, shame, and public embarrassment on the cross for the sake of making it possible for you and me to have “life and life to the full,”(John 10:10), “life eternal” (John 4:14), and “joy” (Hebrews 12:2).
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” – Hebrews 12:1-3
The calling that you and I are called to will be hard, but it will be SO worth it. Jesus “endured the cross” in pursuit of the “joy set before him.” If your journey isn’t or hasn’t been hard yet, then be prepared for at some point it will be, because when you are fighting to further God’s kingdom, you have an enemy who is going to try to stop you. In this journey, we are told to “throw off everything that hinders” and “run with perseverance,” both of which are BIG action verbs- to throw and to run, and take intention. It will be hard work, but with the Lord, we have “perseverance” and purpose to make it through, and thrive!
We fight for our callings and live them out for the same reason Jesus endured the cross; to bring freedom, redemption, and joy to the world.
Living Adventurously Expectant
Living an adventurously expectant life is not easy, and it will not be comfortable but it is a way of living that will result in life to the full!
“This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!” – Romans 8:15-17 MSG
Every day you have the opportunity to “greet God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” To ask Him to show up every day of your life in both the mundane and in the BIG moments. However, asking is only the first step. You then have to follow up with expected faith that He will show up. This is a habit you can get into, but it takes practice, time, and training of your mind to be open to seeing God work in this way.
Now I am not saying to be “adventurously expectant” you have to drop everything and travel, or move or do irrational things. We each have a specific unique calling on our lives which we need to listen to. It could mean traveling and dropping everything, or it could mean remaining faithful to the job and routine you have.
The most important part of living adventurously expectant is to not become complacent, the moment we become complacent is the moment we lose our adventurous mindset.
God works in the every-day moments. He works in your commute to work. He works in how you deal with traffic on the way home. He works in your walk to lunch, He works in the people you interact with at the gym. He works in the people that you have a group project with or the sorority sisters you brush your teeth next to.
Living “adventurously expectant” is the mindset of being expectant for Him to work in your life each and every day, AND THEN being open to doing whatever it is that He is calling you to do.
More often than not, the nudge or pull you feel God giving you will be something that puts you in a state of discomfort. It could be driving an hour to get a friend when you have a paper due the next morning. It could be saying “yes” to helping your friend get their car unstuck from the snow. It could be sitting with the discomfort of bad news your roommate just got instead of going out that night, or it could be leaving a party early to comfort someone in need.
As strong women of God, we need to be willing to make sacrifices and listen to the callings (both big and small) that God puts on our hearts.
Be intentional about putting yourself in situations where God can move. Step out on a limb with your faith and be expectant for God to show up. Do things that are truly only possible if the Lord steps in and joins you in your efforts.
A Little Live Salted Encouragement
Live Salted is where it is today because of how reliant we have been on the Lord in every single aspect: asking big favors of people unsure if they would say yes or not, refusing to let money be the reason why something cannot happen, expecting the Lord to provide everything we need to put on conferences. As I said, it isn’t always comfortable and very rarely easy, but oh man is it adventurous and fun. Each and every day I wake up not knowing how the Lord is going to provide or what He is going to send me out to do on that day, but for every day that I am expectant of Him to show up, He does.
The Lord will never let you down, all He needs from you is your willingness to be expectant of Him to move, your complete trust, and your openness to see Him moving in your every-day.
Ladies, this life is fun when it is lived with Christ. Stop trying to control and take everything on by yourself. Cast all your worries and anxieties to him, and He will take care of it all.
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” – 1 Peter 5:7
Live adventurously expectant, and you will never regret it.
Krista Breilh is the founder and executive director of Live Salted. She began her journey with Live Salted in 2016 and has been chasing after the Lord with this calling on her life ever since. Krista is currently living in Seattle, Washington with her husband and baby girl. Her passion is to bring people together while helping them recognize the potential and influence they have to give.
