Life is not a straight line. It’s not a simple package with a few major decisions leading to a clear and laid-out path full of mountain top experiences. Life is anything but a straight line. Instead, life feels like a chaotic, wind in your face, white-knuckle bicycle ride down a hill with your brakes burnt out.

Unpredicted turns, unexpected bumps, and surprise endings are better descriptions of life than neat, orderly, and predictable.

And…

…And it’s no different for the person of faith. Errantly, many have equated spirituality as a nice alternative to the topsy-turviness of life; however, a quick survey of the Bible will display a beautiful story of men and women living out an extremely messy faith.

In great error, and with tragic results, religious systems throughout the ages have attempted to create conventionality. However, God’s call to people is consistently inconsistent. It is why I often refer to Jesus’ message as the upside-down, backward, inside-out Gospel.

Perhaps we need a reminder of God’s non-conformity:

He told Abraham to leave his people and Moses to return to his people.

He turned a shepherd boy to a king and a king to a mentally deranged person imitating a roving animal.

He had a gorgeous woman use her beauty to save an entire ethnic group, but He chose to come to this earth as a common looking man.

He told one army to not lift a finger and shout really loud while advising another army to have their musicians lead the charge (I’ve known some musicians and having them lead a charge into battle does not strike me as a great idea).

He simply spoke to heal one man while spitting and making a mud-lougee to heal another.

He used both brilliant politicians and common fishermen to change the world.

He told some to wait, some to run, some to sit quietly, and some to shout.

He healed some and chose not to heal others. He rescued some from martyrdom while allowing others to face death.

Growing up I often heard that God is a God of order. He certainly is, but He is also consistently inconsistent. Following Jesus is not a simple stroll that meanders through life, but a crazy, wild ride full of risk, adventure, failures, and victories.

As Kim Vehon, guest on episode 30 states, “Jesus never promised that following Him was going to be easy…it’s messy!”

It is not easy, but it is absolutely worth it!