Follow The Yellow Brick Road

Many people have asked the question, how do you know where to go and what to do? Our answer may sound simple, but many times, it's not: We listen to God and do what He says.

Many people also get skeptical when they hear that response. Listen, it's not like we have one of those red phones that goes directly to God's desk... well, that's arguable (Holy Spirit access??). God loves to walk and talk with His people! Because of Jesus, we have direct access to our Father.

​If He told me (Josh) exactly everything to do with His audible voice, where would there be room for faith? Are we 100% sure we're suppose to go to Sacramento (we got here 10 minutes ago), or Tennessee or Madagascar, for that matter? No, but that leaves room for faith. We ask, we pray and then we do what the Bible says, which many times is a specific part of scripture God is highlighting for the place we are in.

We can know the whole Bible, but if we don't know when to apply certain parts of the Word, we are much less effective. That's where the Holy Spirit comes in. He is one part of three and He is really important to our journey!

We are headed back to South Dakota in October, not because we planned it months in advance, but because He is calling us there. It's exciting and I want to share a recent story with you that might better explain how He sometimes speaks.

We had a rough day coming out of the Redwoods and the mountains in Northern California. The bus had issues and we lost all 4 of our bikes! That's a story we'll write soon, but the next morning we had more mountains to go through to get to church on Sunday. 

As we came over more mountains and around more and more curves, I saw something amazing. The road we took through the mountains had these dug out rectangles all along where they put the yellow and white lane lines. These are so you have a loud thumping noise that reminds you that you are one foot from a cliff or hitting oncoming cars. Down in those rectangles are little yellow reflectors.

Picture this: We come around a corner, and as the rising sun hits those reflectors at the perfect angle, the path we are taking lights up like a glissando on a keyboard in sequential order... the direction we're driving. Then in my heart, I hear, "Follow the yellow brick road."

Now, before you think about doctrine, think about this: God knows you better than you do. He can speak things to you that affect you in a certain way, and maybe not anyone else. In this instance, I immediately felt like the Lord was saying, "You're on the right track, keep walking in it."

It was so comforting! That may affect you the opposite, but then the Holy Spirit probably would be speaking something unique to you. You see, God wants a relationship. He wants to be part of our lives everyday. It was Him encouraging us, much like He did for Joshua when God said, "Be strong and courageous."

I also got the added bonus of getting a smile on my face as I thought of the joyous send off Dorothy gets in the Wizard of Oz. It's probably one of my favorite songs in many musicals that I've seen... and the Holy Spirit knows that.

I'm not sure if that at all helps you understand what we do, but in the end, I guess all that matters is that we follow His leading. When Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, a rabbi, about being born again, he said, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." That doesn't mean we never know where we're going, but the Holy Spirit does like to keep us on our toes!

We make our best effort to be led by the Holy Spirit. As we finish our time praying over California, Sacramento, Salt Lake City and elsewhere, He continually is leading us. We rarely know what the day will bring, but that's part of the adventure of being a disciple of Jesus.

Pray with us for Sacramento and California. This is a special place that God is doing some amazing things. For more information on The Keystone Project, visit https://keystoneproject.org/

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