The Hero’s Journey

All stories begin with the unknown, a blank page. Then letters are partnered to form words, words are linked together to create sentences, and with these sentences the tale begins to unfold. It begins to weave and unfurl, its journey building with each and every discovery, higher and higher until finally, it pinnacles. Arthur slides the sword from the stone. The shell cracks and Ariel begins to sing. Our hero has finally embraced his or her destiny.

All of my life, I have eagerly awaited that moment. The moment where my destiny was revealed, and my one magnificent purpose was finally clear. Where I could stand before my Savior and say… “See, I was faithful to your call.”

The problem was, God never wanted to make my destiny, or as we Christians like to say, “my calling” clear. He would speak to me, encourage me, lead me, but never show me what my ultimate job in His plan was. So I anxiously waited, paralyzed in decision making, afraid to make a wrong step that would lead me astray in my tale, like a side-character whose role in the story was never clear. 

Becoming a mom only added to this as my precious time was fractured by precious opportunities. How much time is right to devote to my kids, to my work, to my “calling”? What is the perfect formula so that I do not stray from God’s perfect plan?

Then a visiting evangelist spoke about being all in for God, and he presented this verse, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2, ESV)

It finally struck me. God’s “calling” is not for one grand performance. He is not waiting for one big faithful act to help propel His perfect plan forward.  God’s “calling” is a daily surrender before Him, a striving to be more and more like His beloved Son, each and every moment of every day. Being a true living sacrifice is our worship, or as it reads in the NKJV “reasonable service” before Him. 

God doesn’t need our help to fulfill His plan. Unlike Arthur and Ariel, we are not on the hero’s journey. There is no sword that only we can pull from the stone. For as it turns out, we are not the hero of our story after all. The true pinnacle of our story wasn’t even accomplished by us, couldn’t be accomplished by us, but by His Son, Jesus Christ, who rescued and redeemed us. 

When we live a life of daily surrender to Him, our minds are transformed and we are able to test and discern the will of God. Then we can move forward, daily, without fear or paralysis. And when those big opportunities for service do come, when in those moments of daily surrender, God speaks, all you have to do is say…

“Yes.”