The Voyage

voyage ˈvɔɪɪdʒ/

noun: voyage; plural noun: voyages

1. a long journey involving travel by sea or in space.

Nothing can prepare you for the voyage.

If you are anything like me then you will always give yourself enough time to plan and pack for a long journey. Enough time to gather all your things and ensure that you haven’t forgotten anything.

However, I have come to realize that God can and will pluck you out of a season unexpectantly and move you into the next season without warning or preparation. Without time to plan and pack.

The scripture in Matthew 8:21-22 is a constant reminder of this scenario. This scripture talks about a particular disciple who was called by Jesus to follow Him, but instead of leaping at the opportunity he asked if he could  first bury his father.

I suppose that this response from Jesus may be shocking to some but I do not think it is meant to be taken literally.

Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

Matthew 8:21-22 ESV

Jesus did not want this disciple to stay and get distracted/caught up in the things of this world. This would merely delay God’s calling on his life. Instead Jesus commands that he simply follow Him. Period.

I can relate to this story in so many ways.

More than a year ago now, God started stirring something in my heart. I started feeling restless and anxious waiting for the next season to come.

Chris and I started thinking about him pursuing a medicine degree again (this was after he had given up on this dream more than 9 years ago).

We felt a prompting from the Lord to start praying for this to happen. For God to open a door somewhere.

Within a month we had made the decision to pack up our lives and leave behind everything and everyone we loved and move to……wait for it…….. Accra, Ghana!

I know you’re thinking how on earth did that happen, but that is a story for another day.

When we felt as if all was lost, God made a way for us in Accra, Ghana. Everything came together perfectly. We sold everything we owned and packed two suitcases each and travelled here with our fur-kids.

Chris wasn’t accepted into the med-school yet but we trusted God’s “travel plans” and embarked on this voyage anyway.

I am a firm believer in the scripture which says that the Lord works all things together for the good of those who love him. I trusted God with everything I had. I believed that this was His ultimate plan for us and climbed into the boat with Him.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

The Holy Spirit was the wind in our sails and Jesus was the Captain of our boat. Everything else was insignificant.

But….He never said the voyage would be smooth sailing.

He never said there wouldn’t be stormy days.

He never said I wouldn’t feel sea sick sometimes and beg Him to take me out the boat.

He never said the season we were sailing into would be a perfect season, a land of milk and honey if you will.

But he did promise that He would be with us through it all.

So here I sit, writing my blog post in a not so perfect season. Feeling a little sea sick from the journey and begging to get out.

But I know His ways are higher than my ways. I know that He is teaching me to hold onto Him when my sea legs buckle underneath me.

He is the skilled sailor who knows where we are headed. He is in control of the waves and the wind that guides me.

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear it’s sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

John 3:8

It is not our job to determine which way we want the wind to blow, but to adjust our sails to the direction in which the wind of the Holy Spirit is already blowing.

So Lionesses what I’m saying is this.

• You will never be ready for the voyage.
• You will never have perfect sailing weather every day.
• But if you can cling to His promises you will never have to worry about your destination or question the reason for the journey.

The voyage awaits you lioness.

Seané

xxx