A journey is defined as the act of traveling from one point to another point. Back in the day this meant finding the right map for the location you were intending on journeying to; then plotting out a course to get you there. Today you simply type in the starting point, then the ending point and an electronic map on your device displays complete turn-by-turn directions. It even includes a time of arrival. The thing about the unexpected journey is the fact that it is indeed unexpected. Like Bilbo Baggins in the movie The Hobbit, you are living your life doing the things you have always done, when without warning an opportunity—a challenge really—shows up at your doorstep.
Unlike Bilbo however, you do not have a wizard leading the way. You have the eternal Holy Spirit both leading and guiding you along the path you will take. This means you must trust his leading, his guidance as well as his judgment in getting you from one point to the other. This is where it gets tricky because if you do not trust the Holy Spirit, you will not follow him when the path becomes difficult—and it will most certainly become difficult.
This is where the relationship with the godhead becomes most vital. You must first develop an intimate relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This is way more than a casual gathering an hour or two once a week. It is a daily discipline that requires your willingness to give up something in order to find someone.
For instance if a child is lost, the parents suspend their everyday life in order to focus on locating their child. This may seem radical, but think about it. The child is most precious to them. The child is lost, possibly in danger and in need of saving. The efforts of the parents may be the difference in finding the child and possibly the safety of the child. It makes sense to suspend any and everything about your normal life in order to focus on finding this child. This describes the relationship we need to have with the godhead in order to take an unexpected journey.
The godhead must become most precious to us. We must realize that without him we are lost, even in danger of our very lives. It is our efforts to find the godhead that will make the difference in our lives. Do not misunderstand. The bible clearly states that we are to seek the lord while he may be found. Jesus tells us to seek the kingdom of God before anything else. He lived this out by having a regular discipline of separating himself to be alone with the Father.
Here is the all-important question. What if I do not want to put forth that kind of effort? You will be comforted to know that you will be in the majority of those who follow Christ. The question will be on that day, does the Father say to you, “Depart from me, I never knew you,” or does he say, “Enter into the kingdom of Heaven?” This is not said in judgment. Jesus tells us that many will come to him claiming to have done many wonderful things in his name; only to hear those dreaded words, “Depart from me, I never knew you.” This is a hard saying to be sure; but to live a life in relationship with the godhead is meant to be eternal, not temporary—or of this earth alone.
Just to understand, this is not some judgmental indictment that you MUST have a certain type of relationship with the godhead in order to make it into the kingdom of heaven. The apostle Paul tells us that it is not wisdom to compare ourselves with each other. Jesus told Peter that his life would go this way and told John his would go another way.
The key ingredient is the intent of your heart. It is the apostle Paul who tells us that the believing heart is what makes us right with God; while a confessing tongue is what brings us into salvation. It is Jesus who says that many are called or invited into salvation while not so many are picked; the apostle Paul is one example of those picked.
The question then is does this resonate in your heart, or does it sound like so much gibberish? If it resonates in your heart, then there is a strong possibility that you have been picked to accept the unexpected journey.
If this is the case, then you—like Bilbo Baggins and the many after him—will discover lots of amazingly wonderful things; both about the godhead as well as about yourself. Some of the things about you will need to be changed, while others will be honed to better serve the king and his kingdom.
The discoveries about the godhead will give you strength to carry on through the many difficulties and hardships you will most certainly face. But remember, as Moses told the children of Israel in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy how God put them through many impossible situations in order to prove to them that man lives by the words of God, not the bread on the table.
Those who learn that lesson are those who enter the kind of blessing that King David speaks about in the Psalms—the blessing of the Lord that makes rich without adding sorrow.