By: Nina Bueno
Once upon a time in a land far away lived a man, happily settled with his family. But one day, out of the blue, the call came. And without an outward show of hesitation, he and his family packed their bags and left.
The adventure of a lifetime faced them. It was to be filled with terror and triumph, failure and faith, and riddled with jealousy and deception. But the end (spoiler alert) is reclaimed by a beautiful, redemptive arc, without which any story would seem threadbare and hopeless.
Growing up, I wanted to live my life as an adventure story. I wanted excitement and triumph, the momentary despair before the sudden shift to hope. I desired the mystery and intrigue, the drama and courage. I alternated between wishing I was the princess who was saved to wanting to be the daring detective, from the Narnian queen going into battle to the prairie schoolteacher.
Perhaps you have felt this same way. Our culture is pretty much built on stories. We hear narratives of our family and cultural history. We read books of many different genres, and we see content on social media that portrays miniature dramas. We’re constantly scrolling from one video to the next, flipping the pages from one chapter to the next and shifting from one family member to the next, hungry for another story.
But oftentimes this desire for story and adventure is sadly contrasted by the mundane life we live each day. Nearly every day, we wake up, go to class, study, eat, attend more classes, go back home and sleep.
This obvious and palpable contrast can lead people to simply give up and accept a mundane life or else prompt them to search for excitement. Sometimes people are driven to cause drama “for the sake of the plot,” so to speak. Other times, they are tempted to indulge in entertainment and pleasure in an effort to escape the monotony of life, feeding a seemingly harmless addiction.
I know that I can relate to aspects of each of these things. But reality is blatant, it isn’t in the books that I read, the movies I watch, the pleasure I indulge in, or the aesthetic that I paste onto a certain task or job within my day. Reality is in the real person that God created me to be, the real people and community that He has put in my life, and the real call that He has given to me.
We have been so blinded by the stories of this world, by the pleasures we think we should have and by the adventures we wish were ours. The world has given each of us a pair of alternate- reality glasses with which to view our lives. They allow us to see not what is truly there, but what we wish could be there. And when circumstances cause us to take them off, we must face the reality we wish we didn’t have to see—or live.
When the biblical patriarch Abraham was living with his family in the glorious city of Ur, he enjoyed a life filled with worldly adventure. But no matter how exciting his life was there, it suddenly paled in comparison to the plan God had for him.
Out of the blue, God called Abraham out of the worldly pleasures and “harmless” addictions that Ur probably had to offer. Abraham and his family were called into a real life—a beautiful, grand adventure called life with God.
Instead of taking off his alternate- reality glasses and seeing a boring life, Abraham got a glimpse of something better. He saw a path so beautiful and real, so adventurous and special, that he decided to follow.
He decided to embark upon this adventure and chose a life with God. And boy, it was an adventure! From wars to triumph, from Egypt to Canaan, from deception to redemption and from nothing to plenty, God was the one with Abraham every step of the way. He fulfilled Abraham’s desires, led him on many adventures, made a special covenant with him and blessed him.
There is a desire inside of everyone to be a part of something big and special. And many times, we turn to broken cisterns that hold no water. We think we can fulfill our desire in pleasure, stories, media and drama. But they do nothing except leave us empty.
God calls us to real cisterns, overflowing with the water of life! He invites us to a life of adventure, redemption and reconciliation, rescue, salvation, and triumph! He bids us enter into a life that will never end but instead will continue on into an adventurous eternity with Him! Will you answer this call? Will you go on a grand adventure with God?
