Going, Not Knowing by David Achata

Four weeks from today we pack the U-Haul and head west. I can’t believe it’s been almost eight years since we moved to Florida. We’ve had such a great time here and have learned so much. We’re entering into what we have started calling “a season of learning.” This is pretty silly though, because isn’t everything we do a learning experience anyway?

I’m learning that faith is kind of like this. We think we can label certain times of our lives as “faith journeys” when truly, isn’t every day a faith journey?

A few weeks ago Pastor Andy preached a sermon called Faith That Walks Away. At one point he quoted Paul in Acts 20:22 where Paul says, “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.” Andy’s point: Christians are people who are always “Going, not knowing.” This, he said, is what it means to live by faith.

But isn’t everyone living this way? After all, who really knows what’s going to happen to them during the course of their day? We all make plans, but none of us really know what’s going to happen by the time the sun goes down tonight. We are “going, not knowing” whether we recognize it or not. EVERYTHING that’s done is a matter of faith. EVERYONE is always “going, not knowing.”

In Acts 20, the Apostle Paul says that he doesn’t know all the details about what’s going to happen to him. He did, however, reveal the few details he did know: “that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.” (20:23)

Paul didn’t know what was going to happen to him. He just knew it wasn’t going to be easy. So why did he do it? He did it because his own life wasn’t worth anything to him. He didn’t live for his own interests. Instead, he had one all-consuming passion: to “finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” (20:24)

What if we all lived “going, not knowing” lives? We all do anyway. But what if we did it on purpose? What if, like Paul, we embrace it instead of being afraid of it?

Imagine you woke up tomorrow and 20 years of your life had passed. Take a moment and wander around the results of your “going, not knowing” life. What do you think it’s going to look like?

David Achata