I started a journey long ago, "too long ago" that I need now to count years to know the length of it. I thought about Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king. He needed a special treatment of seven years in the wild, a journey of rediscovering himself—and the King who was above him—the world, and anything else he knew—and things that he did not know.
He was involuntarily—and without any chance of fighting against it—thrown out of anything he knew life to be like or about. He found himself—unconsciously—lost in a journey through unknown paths and shapes. Taken literally out of place, the new environment he unwillingly had to explore was tough and uncomfortable. It challenged all he had experienced before. Life was definitely not what it was, nor would it be what he imagined, expected, or strived for...
Does that sound familiar to anyone?
My personal journey—not like Nebuchadnezzar's, though—has not been something I would have expected, and at times, I wanted to fight against it. Then I learned to surrender, and nonetheless, I encountered different sorts and expressions of grace. The Great King of the universe watched over my path and did not abandon me along the way. I found that He journeyed with me, even in the obscure turns where I could not see Him or felt most vulnerable. I've been through many valleys, but the Good Shepherd didn't run away, nor did He let me run when I wanted to—and I found that to be the best fact in my favor.
The shaken Babylonian king, at the end of his journey, was restored to a place of "good ending," yet he was not the same one who started that long journey of a transformed life and a renewed mind. His perspective of the world, himself—the king—and the King of the universe was completely changed, expanded, and revolutionized.
A change of our place, circumstances, and understanding might not be easy. I suppose sailors would agree that journeying in the ocean implies a sense of adventure but also a lot of uncertainty and a revelation that man cannot hold nor sustain his life in his own hands, but rather has no other option than surrendering control and the journey itself.
Fortunately, I believe—and I have experienced—that the hands that hold the universe have both the power—and the will—to sustain us and hold us during every type of journey we might face.
