The Story in the Cover

He’s dressed in ordinary clothes that are not uptight but casual and daily, which we can all place ourselves into. Immediately we can relate. He is wearing a stocking cap which gives the feel it is wet and cold; a place where he has been for a long time in his unpleasant life. He is standing on a hard surface which, though his safe zone, leads to nowhere. Alone and staring out into the vastness of life, he is only a spectator.

He is looking at a blank canvas of calm water which, though it seems easy to navigate without tall obstacles, he knows it will not hold the weight of his problems without some sort of flotation device or vessel. This mirrors his need for help.

Next, he is faced with the huge mountains opposing him. Even if he does get across this lake in his journey, he knows there are still storms ahead. These mountains and storms are the giants who laugh at him, telling him he will never make it to his Promised Land. They tell him not to even try. They tell him he is the sum of what he has always been, and that no person, not even God, is interested in helping a loser like him.

Still, he is facing forward, looking at the light coming through the clouds. He recognizes there might still be hope. He’s afraid but not willing to give up. He’s waiting for a guide, for someone to show him how, for someone to reveal what this journey is going to look like along the way. He is looking for a guide who has already been there but has come back for the ones left behind.

There are rocks just under the surface of the water’s edge that are revealing to him the first step might not be as hard nor as deep as he thinks and to just take it. They are asking him to leave his long time, going nowhere, comfort zone and place trust in God. They are compelling him to surrender and use the tools that have been placed before him by God for his specific journey. These tools are found in the great conversations with God through Scripture.

Can you place yourself in these shoes? Are you to journey out of a bad place in life or out of your humdrum status quo? Maybe you are ready to embark on a journey into a great new phase of your life and are being called to step out in faith.

For so many of us, this story is familiar. Let’s prepare for the Exodus of Our Lives!

~~ Jeff DiMario, President, LARK Global Ministries