Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Proverbs 3:6 MSG
Something stirs inside me when I hear the sound of trains passing early in the morning and late at night. It brings to mind images of migrant workers in the Great Depression. I imagine them, having exhausted the resources of a place—day jobs and handouts—hopping on board, this their act of faith. They move out, believing there is something more waiting for them at the next stop.
Our lives as believers are not so different. We hear the call of Jesus, “Follow Me,” and onward we go. Jesus, who had no place to lay His head, certainly modeled this lifestyle for us. Early in the morning, He got His marching orders for the day and then set out to follow His instructions. Abraham, who we might say is faith personified, followed God to a place he didn’t know.
Do you ever feel like the life you live is little, that it can’t amount to much? How can it with so much earthly baggage to tote? It often seems that I am more like a drifter than a soldier of God. When I am in that place, I find solace in the journey of Paul. I think of him as a bit of a tramp, his tent-making supplies gathered into a knapsack and the Gospel burning in his heart. He meandered, it would seem, across Asia into Europe sewing and preaching and sowing. But he went as the Spirit bid him (see Acts 16) even when led into trouble and prison.
It’s not that surprising that a tramp would have a firsthand acquaintance with a jail cell. One of my spiritual role models is Corrie Ten Boom, and she did time in Auschwitz. In her story of enduring faith, she testifies, “no pit is so deep that the love of God is not deeper still.” And, though her account about living victoriously in a prison camp is miraculous, it is her later writings that mean the most to me. In “Tramp for the Lord,” she chronicles her life after prison, in the daily trenches of decision-making and doubt and relationships. Corrie demonstrates, as did Paul, the powerful lifestyle of getting on board with the Lord, pressing on to know Him and His upward call.
Citing Galatians 5:6, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love,” my friend and teacher John Riddle explains how we can live this way. We follow Jesus on the parallel tracks of faith and love. I can have faith that wherever God leads me holds the best of all possibilities because His love for me is perfect.
Join me in asking God to help you live like this: Lord, I covet the joy of watching You move and the faith to simply follow. Transform my thoughts and conform my will so that I can more readily get on track with You. Wherever You lead me, God, that is where I want to be. Make me into a Tramp for You, Lord!
