CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE
The Journey of a Lifetime
Mark Drabenstott
I’ve lost all track of the number. So many places, so many airplanes, so many hotels, so many people along the way. Just how many trips have I taken in my life? In one particularly adventurous period, I had so many miles in the air that I reckon I circumnavigated the globe 18 times in three years. I suppose I might be forgiven for losing the total number of trips.
Now that I’m retired, the number of trips has declined—and to the ones of choice not of the ‘work-duty’ sort. Several of my retired friends now keep track of their golden years by the trips they take. They often talk about taking “a journey of a lifetime”—the one they always wanted or postponed and now can finally enjoy.
One of the benefits of our Christian faith is understanding with deep conviction that we are always on the journey of a lifetime. It’s a Faith Journey. A long journey through the peaks and valleys of life, walking alongside faithful companions. A long journey with our Father and His Christ as we understand them ever more fully and feel their presence ever more near. A long journey from doubt in the Almighty to one of profound trust and confidence in His grace and salvation.
Why is life a journey about faith? Simply put, faith supplies the deepest connection with our Creator. As Hebrews puts it, without faith it’s impossible to please him. That’s the cogent summary of the many lives we remember so well from our Bible. They lived in faith, they died in faith. And the faith they developed over the course of their separate journeys enabled them to do great things they could never have done otherwise.
The Bible is a grand chronicle of faith journeys. Here are just a few:
Abraham’s long journey began in Ur, where God told him to leave a comfortable home and go to a land He would show him (Ge. 12). So, Abraham took a grand journey by faith, not knowing where he was to go (Heb. 11).
The children of Israel took a long journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in Canaan. God went before them to show them the way—a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day (De. 1). Throughout their journey, God was with them, his presence shown by the fire in the tabernacle (Ex. 40). What he asked in return was their trust in him—a trust that ebbed and flowed across the wilderness.
Jesus journeyed from Bethlehem to Nazareth to Jerusalem. But his longest journey by far was walking to Golgotha, carrying a cross but affirming the unbounded confidence to commend his life to His Father (Lk. 23). He bids us to walk with him, knowing he is the way, the truth and the life (Joh. 14).
Paul was literally on a journey—to persecute “The Way”—when he had his grand epiphany and discovered what faith really means (Acts 9). He discovered that life is a very different pilgrimage, one focused on understanding God’s grace and giving back for it.
The real reason I don’t know the grand total of those trips is that by His grace I know my life is about so much more than frequent flyer miles. It’s about walking with my Lord and trusting Him in the unknown and uphill of life. It’s about walking alongside my faithful companions, feeling their loving embrace when I get discouraged and cheering them on when they grow weary.
WCF’s mission is to support and inspire strong Faith Journeys. To do that, we provide an array of creative tools and resources to help us all in every phase of our lifelong Faith Journeys—and to help lift up and care for others who struggle or who are in need along the way.
We are especially focused on three activities:
Extend helping hands so people can find a better way.
Supply resources to encourage stronger faith along the way.
Open new ways for people to share God’s bounty with others.
We hope you will join us in helping us all have strong Faith Journeys. As never before, there is more work than hands. Our work is made possible only through the generous donations of fellow faith companions like you. Please consider sharing your talents—human or financial—to encourage the Faith Journeys of others.
Each of us is on the journey of a lifetime. That journey is all about faith. Let’s do everything we can together to make the journey strong—and to the glory of God.