Charting
God’s Course
Pioneers
have long been a topic of discussion in our nation’s history. Trailblazers have included Lindbergh’s solo
Atlantic flight, medicine progress from Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine, Bill Gate’s
computer advancements, and Henry Ford’s Model T. But long before these ground breakers went
where no man had gone before, there were those who risked their life and limb
to advance our nation‘s expansion.
Over
two hundred years ago this fall, one of the most famous expeditions in our
nation’s history reached a milestone when Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
(THE Lewis and Clark) embarked on an expedition commissioned by President
Thomas Jefferson to explore the recent $15 million Louisiana Purchase of
1803. This “deal” included multiple
territories that had yet to be explored and these men were enlisted for the
task.
Beginning
on May 21, 1804, this 48 man team would travel over 8,000 miles roundtrip in
all from a camp in St. Louis, Missouri to the Pacific Ocean and finally back.
The main goal of the trip was to locate a route and survey its potential, as a
waterway for westward American expansion.
While no such route was found, they did succeed in gaining new
understanding of people, plants, and geography of the western United States.
For
those of us who have ever bemoaned a 5-hour cross country airline trip and
mindlessly quipped that the car trip up the coast as taking too long, we need
only to reflect back on this time to appreciate the advancement in travel.
It
was October, 1805, that Lewis and Clark finally reached the Pacific Ocean. While logging the whole trip, Clark would
finally write, “Great joy in camp as we are in view of the ocean, the great
Pacific Ocean which we have been so long anxious to see.” That was the
excitement each traveler had when they finally reached their destination.
After
harrowing travels, sickness, and survival on slight rations, the team
accomplished a goal that would be more appreciated as the decades passed.
In
Hebrews 11, we read, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a
place that he was to receive as an inheritance.
And he went out, not knowing when he was going.” Long before Lewis and
Clark, Abraham was called from the land of Ur to the land of Israel. God had called him to go out on a limb, but
the reward of following God far exceeded the challenges that would follow.
In
essence, the Bible reminds us that a relationship with Christ will demand a
pioneer spirit. Stepping into a life
with Him will demand seasons in our life where we walk through trials,
challenges, hard decisions, and multiple choices to follow His path rather than
that of the world. But in the end (and
frequently along the way), we realize that God promises to reward us in a way
that will cause us to forget the ordeals of the journey.
C.S.
Lewis once said, “Those who focus on this life to come get this life thrown
in. Those who focus on the life alone
get neither.” Much like Paul, one day
we’ll find ourselves speaking words strangely close to the great American
explorers of 200 years ago. We’ll say,
“Great joy in the camp as we are in view of heaven, this great home which we
have been so long anxious to see.”
Terry
Risser
Consider reading the Word today:
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