By Faith...

My daily devotional (Streams in the Desert) often has a very good and very pointed view of our lives as Christians and the things that God sends our way in this life...

Today's verse was from Hebrews 11:8

" By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going"

It goes on to later say in verse 13

"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth."

I remember these verses catching me the last time I came across them and they catch me even now...

Something I had underlined in the devotional portion when I read this date last year was this:

"In no way is it enough to set out cheerfully with God on any venture of faith. You must also be willing to take your ideas of what the journey will be like and tear them into tiny pieces, for nothing on the itinerary will happen as you expect."

A beautiful word picture about our expectations and God's design for our lives ... Jason and I still don't know where we will be located after we leave New York in July and I have many friends who are in similar situations right now, so of course these words and these verses ring loudly in my mind.