I started a journey long ago, "too 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, 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 travel in life through unknown paths and shapes. Taken literally out of place. The new place he unwillingly had to explore was tough, 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 on my path and did not abandon me on my 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 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 that started that long journey of a transformed life, a renewed mind. His perspective of the world, himself—the king—, and the King of the universe was completely changed, expanded, revolutionized.
A change of our place, circumstances, 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 can not 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.
