The Land Of Dragons
Chester Mitchell

(Wanted: Ordinary Heroes)

I didn't see any dragons here. Plenty of snakes on the way over here, though. —Oscar Wilde, in Here Be Dragons

If they longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place (Hebrews 11:15-16—NLT).

When Christopher Columbus set sail to find the New World, great uncertainty lay ahead. In the map's margins, the mapmakers had ominously written, "Here lie dragons and wild beasts." No one had ever been "here," and thus over time, legend had become reality and that false reality ruled with savage uncertainty. World explorers like Columbus knew that if they were going to make discoveries, they would have to have courage and step into the vast unknown and uncharted spaces of the world.

Walking with God isn't solely about certainty. It involves uncertainty the people of the Bible whom we call "heroes" weren't certain of everything—but they acted on what they knew to be certain and they allowed God to take them to places they'd never been.

They were certain about God's character. They were certain about God's commitment to His Word. And they were certain about His power. Once those things were established, they allowed God to chart a course for their lives—a journey into the unknown.

We often hear the stories of great Christians like Martin Luther, John Wesley, John Wilberforce, Corrie Ten Boom and Dr. Martin Luther King, and deep down in our hearts we wonder if we have what they possessed. The fact of the matter is, they probably wondered the same thing about themselves. The difference between those who do and those who don't rarely has much to do with the traits we consider must-haves. In fact, the word used most often to describe the people we label "heroes" is ordinary.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was simply ordinary—nothing about her would have set her apart from the thousands of virgin girls in her community. What made her special was the fact that God invited her to play a role in the revelation of his greatest gift to the world. Ordinary is the vessel into which God most often pours His greatest power. Consider the words of 1 Corinthians:
Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of the 'the brightest and the best' among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these 'nobodies' to expose the hallow pretensions of the 'somebodies' That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God (1 Corinthians 1:26-29—The Message).

When we consider the varied characters of the Bible who were instruments in the divine drama that began in the book of Genesis and concludes in the book of Revelation, we quickly understand that for all the things that were different about them, one thing bound them together: None of them allowed their relationship with God and, ultimately, their "divine assignment" to go unfulfilled because they lacked the facts.

Walking with God isn't about having all the facts. Walking with God isn't about scientific data that's been tested and retested and been shown to be reliable. Walking with God isn't about money-back guarantees, fail-safe formulas and maps. Noah wasn't certain that the "big boat theory" would work. He acted solely on the instructions that God had given him. His confidence was anchored in nothing more than the Word of a God he had never seen, as shown in Hebrews: "By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn't see, and acted on what he was told" (Hebrews 11: 7—The Message).

And Abraham had no map of the promised land. He walked out of Ur of the Chaldees based simply on what God had told him. "By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God's call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going" (Hebrews 11:8—The Message).

Joseph was uncertain what would become of his dream. He was thrown into a dark, damp pit, and God allowed him to be sold as a slave to the household of Potiphar. God's blessing upon Joseph's life spilled over, and the household of Potiphar was blessed because of Joseph.

But God wasn't finished. He also blessed Joseph by allowing the wife of Potiphar to accuse him of attempted rape. Joseph's next stop on his walk with God wasn't the comfort of the Ritz-Carlton but a filthy jail cell, and it was here that his character formation shines brightly. Most of us would have landed in prison, bitten by the venom of bitterness. If I'd been Joseph, this would have been a great time to declare, "I don't do dreams." After all, it had been a dream that started his downward slide. But ultimately, the dreamer arrived at the house of the Pharaoh! Joseph traded in the prison robe for the Prime Minister's robe. Here's the progression:
•	His brothers rip the coat of many colors from his back.
•	"Mrs. Potiphar" grabs his second coat.
•	He receives a coat upon his arrival in prison.
•	The Pharaoh removes the prison coat and replaces it with the Prime Minister's coat!

The journey that God chose for Joseph serves as a powerful metaphor for the person who's walking in a difficult place without the knowledge of how the narrative will play out. Just because God hasn't shown you everything doesn't mean that you've missed God's will. It took over thirty years of uncertainty before these verses could be written: "And Joseph remembered the dreams he'd dreamed about them many years before" (Genesis 42:9—NLT).

And these: "Don't you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now—life for many people" (Genesis 50:20—The Message).

Walking with God and uncertainty go hand in hand. If you have any doubts, just ask Matthew. He was as the "numbers guy" among the twelve disciples Jesus chose. Everything had to be exact. Every dollar had to be accounted for. For tax collectors, it all came down to calculating the numbers—nothing was left to feelings or faith. Just show him the numbers and Matthew was in his comfort zone.

And then everything changed. He was sitting in the tax office when "the carpenter" came calling and, with him, great uncertainty. When Jesus' eyes locked on to his and He said, "Come follow me," Matthew decided to walk away from a lucrative business and set out to discover the unknowns of "the road less traveled."

In Matthew 11, he shares the following story:

When Jesus had finished giving these instructions to his twelve disciples, he went out to teach and preach in towns throughout the region. John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, "Are you the Messiah we've been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?" Jesus told them, "Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor (Matthew 11:1-5 KILT).

At that moment, I imagine, Jesus employed one of his "pregnant pauses." Just enough time for everyone—especially Mr. Numbers—to realize that He had no plans to break John out of prison. As that dreadful thought started to sink in, Jesus continued, "Blessed is he who does not take offense at me" (Matthew 1 1: 6—NASB )

What was He saying? There's a special blessing for us when we refuse to allow the tension caused by our uncertainty to cause us to become "offended" by God.

No sooner had John's disciples left to convey to him Jesus' strange words than the Lord gave John the greatest compliment possible: "Let me tell you what's going on here: No one in history surpasses John the Baptizer" (Matthew 11:11—The Message). I just wish John could have heard it!

From what we know of history, though, John didn't need to hear it. When the time came, he walked into the death chamber and surrendered his head. How did he do it? When you've surrendered your heart to Christ, nothing else matters. Nothing can be taken from you. When Christ has your heart, He has all of you.

Walking with God is about surrender. Paul implored the Christians in Rome to "present your bodies a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1-2). The natural instinct is to move only when everything is guaranteed, but this is not the life that God has called us to. Walking with God is about losing your life. It is about dying to self. It is about forsaking mother and father. It is about walking by faith and not by sight.

When Columbus set sail, there were those who doubted that he would come back. They believed that the maps were correct; at the edge of the "known" was the place of dragons. But Columbus refused to believe the "experts." He believed that the maps were wrong; the world wasn't flat. 
And ultimately, he sailed beyond the maps and changed history. Sometimes in walking with God, you have to lay everything on the line and trust the still, small voice of the Spirit. You simply set the sails of your soul, catch the wind of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to lead you. As 
John put it:

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit (John 3:8—NKJV).

But to every mind there openeth,
 A way, and way, and away, 
A high soul climbs the highway, 
And the low soul gropes the low, 
And in between on the misty flats, 
The rest drift to and fro.

But to every man there openeth,
A high way and a low,
And every mind decideth,
The way his soul shall go.

One ship sails East,
And another West,
By the self-same winds that blow,
`Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales,
That tells the way we go.

Like the winds of the sea
Are the waves of time,
As we journey along through life,
`Tis the set of the soul,
That determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox

During my years of walking with God, I've noticed that the people who are fearful of walking with God outside their comfort zones often spend their days in their comfortable place inventing mythical "dragons" that become larger and larger as time passes.

What lie have you allowed to anchor you to your past? What lie has Satan whispered into your mind that has kept you caged? You hold the key. You're free only when you embrace God's truth. As John said, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32—NIV).

When Columbus returned, the coins of Spain were re-minted. The old inscription, "No more beyond," was replaced with "More beyond!" God's challenge to you and me is to deal with the "dragons" just as Columbus did. You might be dealing with fear, regret, a failed marriage, or an addiction—whatever the dragon, focus your vision on Jesus Christ and move in spite of uncertainty. More Beyond!

A STEP ON THE JOURNEY:

Defeating the Dragons:
FEAR: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline" (2 Timothy 1:7—NLT).
LOW SELF-ESTEEM: "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago" (Ephesians 2:10 KILT).
ADDICTION: "The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released" (Luke 4:19—NLT).
SPIRITUAL EXHAUSTION: "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you...and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light" (Matthew 11:28-30—NLT).

The above article, “The Land Of Dragons” was written by Chester Mitchell. The article was excerpted from chapter eight in Mitchell’s book, The Gravel Road To Heaven.

The material is copyrighted and should not be reprinted under any other name or author. However, this material may be freely used for personal study or research purposes.