why? (part 1)

it's a question we're often asked, and most commonly in rapid-fire form: why are you going? why london? why now?

why are we going? the main reason we tell people is faith. we've talked about going for years, ever since we started dating, actually. but it was only recently that we seriously gave it more thought. and we wanted to make sure that this is what God wanted for us and not just something we selfishly wanted to do. so we prayed and prayed and prayed some more (and asked many others to pray for us). we then realized, both individually and together, that we were getting fairly comfortable with our lives. don't get us wrong - there's nothing wrong with comfort. we like comfort (esp. comfort food... mmmmm... ) as much as everyone else. it's just that it can also get dangerous for your faith. we were starting to take things for granted. our good-paying jobs, in particular. everything around us in toronto is familiar. we know where things are. we're starting to develop routines. we have lots of friends to support us. we take few risks. everything is fairly... predictable.

but predictability can give you a false sense of security, of control. you begin to believe that all the good things that happen (and bad things that are avoided) are somehow your doing, not divine providence. God is given a really small box in which to play. He has little room to surprise you and has, in essence, been asked to sit on the sidelines while you run your life the way you see fit. this, ladies and gentlemen, is what biblical folk referred to as sin. ("In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit." + judges 21:25) now, we hope you don't get offended by this - this is just something we've observed in our own lives and we're not passing judgement on anyone. if you're bothered by it, maybe God is prompting you to use this as an opportunity to reflect on your own life. maybe not. either way, it's not for us to say.

for us, we realized the narrower path was to let go of everything we trusted in. it's scary. and not like a roller coaster is scary. more like how running into a strange forest in the middle of the night is scary. you just have no idea what's waiting for you. but that's where faith comes in.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. "
+ hebrews 11:1

we have no idea what's waiting for us, and all human logic says it's a bad idea, but we're putting our trust in God.

to be continued...