Done, Because Who You Follow Matters – 8 (UNITE Link-Up)

“I can’t go.” I finally told my husband. “I cannot follow this man who keeps ridiculing Jesus.”

He nods. I was having trouble breathing. Humbly, my husband obligues.

We sneak off from our group, as all the others follow blindly the guide who is almost to the bus. The journey in the sun would take hours. I didn’t have that. I knew I NEEDED to leave.

Our next stop, Sacsayhuaman, gigantic rocks, my husband remembers seeing during childhood.

I could see disapointment coat his face, but he whispers, “We already purchased the tickets, maybe we can go to see it another day.”

“Great idea.” I half-heartedly announce, fighting for each step, gasping quietly for breath, feeling the beating sun plummet me, instead of carressing my skin with a blanket of gentle heat.

Breathing weakens. I need something more than a promise, I’ll be o.k. I need air, water….anything to start me breathing again.

“Should we sit?” My husband suggests. He must have noticed my gasping, as the shock of the tour-guide blasting us for hours, damaged more than my lungs…but my spirit.

I see the large, white Jesus sitting high on the hill, later discovering it is a compass, directing us towards our hotel.

We walk back towards the church we had toured. Streets are flooded with people of all colors, breezing past, waiting for buses, crossing streets carelessly, almost getting killed.

I find peace knowing my husband can guide me, speaks the language, and has led me by instinct in Domincan Republic, Guatemala, and Hawaii….

Something in him always seems to know the way.

While I can get distracted by feelings, visual cues can derail me, leading me to intellectualize situations, creating questions or fear.

But I trust his leadership.

Finally, I collapse my legs, placing my face deep between my knees…gasping slowly, struggling desperately for air…

And I wonder, how often do we lose our destinies, in this rat-race, this crazy maze of following anybody or everybody, instead of placing proven leaders in front of us, trusting His Spirit first and formemost to guide us?

We click “like”, or “follow”, chase down some instagram fad, or Twitter sensation. We can look cosmetically, at the outside, being deceived or dupted into this idea that what we see externally matters…

When honestly, not knowing what’s inside the hearts of those who lead, can end up being our gravest mistake. We must follow Christ primarily, before we follow any man.

And I wonder why, could it be, this is why Jesus met face-to-face with people? Why He didn’t lead His Kingdom from afar, with distant fame and titles.

He always steps close, before asking us to trust Him?

God came low, put a face, body, hands and feet, to the Lord that He was. He showed us love was more than attraction or appearances, empty words, or dictatorship.

And I imagine…He could have just come in a flame and consumed us, like He did with Moses. He could have lite up the sky, like He did with Elijah? He could have stayed on the waters, like His Spirit in Genesis, or offered himself only in a still, small voice, never demonstrating full Lordship…

But instead, God put skin on, came in the flesh as Jesus, stepping down amongst us. He left His exhalted, high, lifted up throne and came low, humility, in grace, so He could be near, God-with us, speaking face-to-face.

And I wonder in our worlds, why do we trust one-dimential images, or words of people we have never met, ctors and celebrities? All the while missing the man who walked the earth and came near to us…to set the sinner free?

No, our tour-guide was not that different from me. I had gone astray. I had sought my own way. I had questioned my faith, and ran to condemn everything at one point or time in my life.

I could not judge. But, from then on…I would be careful about who I follow.

I sat. Humbled. Out of breath. There on the curb on the backside of the church, where few could see. 

There in the shade a puppy played. The shadow of the steeple covered the homeless man sitting next to me. That shadow poured down on the local people, as they were drawn to let it lead.

Yes, I had learned to be careful who to follow, and never to be, wise i my own eyes. I had learned the greatest beauty is this place on the steps where the humble are closest to Jesus…

It is hear with the homeless and needy…I looked up and saw the sun shine bright around the steeple of the church…

And though a world away from my home….I knew I was safe, loved. Yes, it was here….I had learned the lesson of who to follow.

I gasp for another breathe…

(This post is part of a series. Find previous posts leading up to this series here. Also, we have just added a new page here at Rich Faith Rising. Check it out here.)

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