I’m not a jogger. And yet, in Wheaton a few weeks ago, I walked among them. At a conference at Wheaton College, I took my early morning walk just northeast of downtown, among many splendid homes. Enjoying the unusual shrubbery around one such house, I heard a voice behind me: "on your right." A bit startled, I felt the rush of wind as a jogger, blonde pony-tail swinging, swept by. I stepped up my pace a bit. I’m in the company of joggers, I am! In this high class college town!
The experience reinforced a key motif in my life: How did I get so far? When I couldn’t get up on the rings in high school gym class, my mother said I was a "physical flop." I never played softball or any other sport. The one time I played a bit of pick-up football, I nearly broke my neck. And yet, here I am, in the early morning, among homes designed by architects, walking among athletes.
When God gets hold of our lives, we often find ourselves in places we never thought we’d be. We have a child when never thought we’d want to. We find joy in our single life, even though we’d expected to be a couple. We rest in a deep peace because we see how far Jesus has brought us and we trust him to take us home.
Jesus, we need your peace, ever more deeply in our lives. Bring us to the places you want for us, places of joy and hope and faith.