A-mazing journey

Last Sunday following the services at church, a group of us went to Camp Fontenelle. They had their fund raiser and BBQ along with a corn maze. Several of our youth were helping out with their sponsors. The group that I went with had a great time. The corn maze was created to be similar to Noah's ark. As we entered, we did have some guides both about leadership and scripture. Yet, even with those guides, we still had moments of feeling lost and alone. We had no ravens or doves to send out. Through often returning to the point that we got off track, we were able to find our way through the maze and finally exit safely onto the promised land. One of the people who went with us said that really we got our exercise as we probably walked through the maze twice.
As I reflect on the great time we had, there were several insights that I wanted to share. The first one was that even when we are off track and feel lost, God has a way of presented us with the opportunity to find our way home. The guides that we had were from scripture and ideas about leadership. Whenever we take a wrong turn, we always have an opportunity to return to that choice and take another turn. Scripture can help point the way for us to be able to do that. Life can be like that maze and never is a straight path but full of choices that we have to make. When we are at a crossroads in our life, not knowing which way we are to go, I would suggest that is the time to turn to scripture, prayer, and other means of grace to guide us in the decisions that we have to make.
The other insight I had was the importance of friends in times of trouble. I realize that we could never really get lost, but there were times that we were feeling like we had done all that we could. During our journey we met others who were also journeying the same paths. Working together we were more able to help one another avoid some of the wrong turns. I believe that is why having a church family is so important. We can learn from one another and through that maybe avoid some of our mistakes.
The last insight was the idea of shared leadership. I had preached that day on the idea of honoring one another's opinions and not be judgmental. During our journey, there were times we shared leadership with one another. Sometimes the choices we made turned out wrong, but we respected one another and together we were able to find the right path. Leadership is like that sharing with one another. I had also in the sermon talked about opinions are not essentials. At no time did any of us insist on having it our own way. Instead we worked together for the whole. Church needs to be the same. One can have a strong opinion on what he or she prefers, but it is important to be willing to work for the body of Christ not our own preferences.
It is a-mazing what one can learn from our experiences even ones that are fun and enjoyable.