The River, The Cocoon and The Navigator - by guest contributor Sarah Yang

For most of my life I believed that life's journey took place on train tracks.  The path was linear with specific sub-stations to mark my progress in life (i.e. get an education -> get a job -> get married -> get a house -> have kids.)  Therefore, I was constantly trying to figure out God’s will so I could be at the right place at the right time with the right people on the right train so I could make all the right stops and eventually get to “Destiny Central Station.”  I would know when I finally got to my destination when people around me chanted, “You’ve arrived!” God could be my Conductor so long as He made all the stops at the sub-stations of “success.”  But I came to realize when my life got derailed and became a “train wreck,” that this God I believed in was the make-believe god of karma (do good, get good.)  It has nothing to do with the real God; it is completely founded upon my performance.  And if whoever you think is God can be shaken, it's not really God. That’s when God showed me that His path is more like a river.  In a river, there are infinite paths that you can take but you can always trust the current.  The current will always get you to where you want to go.  No matter what path we choose, as long as we stay in the raft with Jesus as our guide and remain in the current, we’ll get to our destination.  That current is His Love, that destination is His Heart, and the One navigating is not in a rush.  You are safer in the river with Him than anywhere else even though it might lead you into the dark and unknown.   What is dark and unknown?  Cocoons.  Feel like you are hanging by a thread?  Shelved?  In the dark?  Have no clue what's going on but everything in and around you is changing?  So does a caterpillar that’s becoming a butterfly.  And the Invisible Thread that’s holding you in your process of transformation is stronger than all the steel that exists on planet earth.  So don’t shortcut the process – a butterfly freed too soon will never take flight. The other option is religion.  Religion is a “Mirror of Self-Evaluation and Comparison” that is only able to reflect back your performance and productivity.  This mirror also magnifies your flaws and turns molehills in your character into mountains of defects.  You never feel good enough no matter how hard you try because you were never made to behold a mirror… you were made to behold a Person.  You were created for Son-gazing not mirror-gazing.  There is no formula but there is a wild adventure.  We are invited into a journey where the River is His Love, the raft is the cocoon of His Presence, and our faithful companion and guide is Jesus.  So enjoy the ride.  :)