Wild Goose Chase

1. The Wild Goose: Embrace God's Unpredictable Spirit

Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed.

Unpredictable Nature. The Holy Spirit, like a wild goose, is untamed and unpredictable, defying our attempts to control or fully understand Him. This imagery challenges the notion of a predictable, safe faith, urging us to embrace the mystery and adventure of following God's lead.

• The Spirit's promptings may seem pointless, but they are part of God's plan.
• Intellectual analysis often leads to spiritual paralysis.
• God's will is neither logical nor linear.

Spiritual Adventure. Following the Wild Goose means embracing a life of spiritual adventure, where we are led to unexpected places and meet unexpected people. This contrasts with "inverted Christianity," where we try to make God follow our plans instead of the other way around.

• Circumstantial uncertainty is another name for adventure.
• Chasing the Wild Goose is anything but boring.
• We should not settle for a safe, predictable faith.

Uncaged Living. We are called to live uncaged lives, not tamed by the world's expectations or our own fears. Jesus didn't die to keep us safe; He died to make us dangerous for His cause.

• We should ask God to make us dangerous, not just safe.
• We should be sent out to wreak havoc on the Enemy.
• Boredom is the root of all evil; faith and boredom are antithetical.

2. Irresponsible Responsibility: Pursue God's Passions Over Routine

But your greatest responsibility is pursing God-ordained passions.

Passion Over Paycheck. Many settle for a paycheck instead of pursuing their God-ordained passions, burying their deepest desires beneath day-to-day responsibilities. This leads to a life of making a living instead of making a life.

• We must not allow less important responsibilities to displace more important ones.
• Our responsibilities can become spiritual excuses.
• We must practice responsible irresponsibility.

God-Ordained Passions. When God puts a passion in your heart, it becomes your responsibility, regardless of your qualifications. God often uses us at our point of greatest incompetence so that He gets all the credit.

• Nehemiah had no architectural training, yet he rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem.
• Gary Haugen left a great job at the Department of Justice to start International Justice Mission.
• God-ordained passions often break our hearts.

Action Over Inaction. We must not just pray about our passions; we must act on them. We must quit praying and start doing. God won't do for us what we can do for ourselves.

• We must fill out the application, make the call, pack the U-Haul, write the check, etc.
• We must be the best cupbearer we can be, making the most of our current situation.
• We must find our own Calcutta, doing the best we can with what we have where we are.

3. Routine's Cage: Disrupt the Ordinary to Find the Sacred

When we learn how and forget why, we start going through the motions spiritually.

Inattentional Blindness. We often take constants for granted, losing the joy of living and the awe of God's presence. The sacred becomes routine, and we become blind to the miracles around us.

• We must not take God for granted.
• We must not lose the joy of our salvation.
• We must change our routine, take risks, and try new things.

Thin Places. God often invades the monotony of our lives in unexpected ways and places, creating "thin places" where heaven and earth seem to touch. These moments are often marked by a change of place and pace.

• Moses encountered God in a burning bush on the backside of the desert.
• We must create altars to remember God's faithfulness.
• Change of place + change of pace = change of perspective.

Change of Pace. We must not get so busy doing "ministry" that we don't have time for ministry. We must slow down, take a Sabbath, and create margin in our lives.

• We must not do the work of God at a pace that destroys the work of God in us.
• We must let go and let God.
• We must be still and know that He is God.

4. Eight-Foot Ceilings: Challenge Limiting Assumptions About God

The smartest people are the people who make the fewest assumptions.

Human-Sized God. We often make God in our own image, limiting Him to our own understanding and logic. This results in a god who can never surprise us, overwhelm us, or transcend us.

• We must not cut and paste the Bible, ignoring verses we cannot comprehend.
• We must not make assumptions about what is and is not possible.
• We must embrace the mystery and majesty of God.

Stargazing. God often challenges our assumptions by taking us outside our comfort zones and showing us the vastness of His creation. This helps us realize how small we are and how big God is.

• God took Abraham outside to count the stars.
• We must not put an eight-foot ceiling on what God can do.
• We must live in wonderment.

Faith Over Assumptions. Faith is trusting God more than we trust our own assumptions. We must challenge our assumptions about what is and is not possible, remembering that with God all things are possible.

• We must not assume we are too old or too young.
• We must not assume we are unqualified.
• We must quit assuming and start believing.

5. Guilt's Grip: Grace Reconditions Our Spiritual Reflexes

Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of His grace.

Conditioned Reflexes. We are often controlled by conditioned reflexes, both good and bad. False guilt, a by-product of confessed sin, can keep us in a cage, preventing us from pursuing God's will.

• We must allow God to recondition our reflexes.
• We must not let guilt keep us from dreaming kingdom dreams.
• We must become revolutionaries for His cause.

Grace Over Guilt. We must accept God's forgiveness and forgive ourselves, allowing grace to saturate our sinful memories. We must not focus on past mistakes but on future opportunities.

• We must not minimize our sinfulness but appreciate God's grace.
• We must react like a Christian, not just act like one.
• We must pray for those who persecute us.

Vulnerability and Confession. We must be willing to be vulnerable and confess our sins, both to God and to one another. This is the way out of the cage of guilt.

• We must not hide our sins but bring them into the light.
• We must love people when they least expect it and least deserve it.
• We must forgive others as we have been forgiven.

6. Shipwrecked: Failure Can Be a Divine Detour

Sometimes it takes a shipwreck to get us where God wants us to go.

Failure as a Catalyst. Sometimes our plans have to fail in order for God's plans to succeed. Failure can be a divine detour, leading us to unexpected places and opportunities.

• We must not trust our plans more than we trust God.
• We must be open to new options when our plans fall apart.
• We must handle failure properly, learning valuable lessons.

Divine Appointments. God often uses what seems like bad luck to set up divine appointments. Shipwrecks and snakebites can become supernatural synchronicities that serve His purposes.

• Paul's shipwreck led him to Malta and a meeting with Publius.
• We must be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
• We must trust that God is positioning us in the right place at the right time.

Tragedy or Comedy. How we handle the shipwrecks in our lives will determine whether our lives become a tragedy or a comedy. We must give Jesus complete editorial control over our lives.

• We must choose our attitude.
• We must focus on God's masterfully designed fairy-tale ending.
• We must remember that God is working all things together for our good.

7. Good Old-Fashioned Guts: Fearlessly Advance God's Kingdom

We need people who are more afraid of missing opportunities than making mistakes.

Daring Plans. We need people who are more afraid of missing opportunities than making mistakes, people who dare to dream the unthinkable and attempt the impossible.

• Jonathan had a daring plan to climb the cliffs of Micmash.
• We must play offense with our lives.
• We must not let our fears dictate our decisions.

Forceful Advance. We are called to forcefully advance the cause of Christ, not to hold the fort but to storm the gates of hell. We must be willing to go to dangerous places to do difficult things.

• We must not be passive but active in our faith.
• We must invade hellholes with the light and love of Christ.
• We must be more afraid of lifelong regrets than temporary failure.

Spiritual Growth. Spiritual growth prepares us for more dangerous missions. As we grow, God gives us more difficult things to do. We must not assume that the will of God should get easier the longer we follow Christ.

• We must be willing to go the hard way.
• We must not be afraid of the shadowlands.
• We must have good old-fashioned guts.

8. The Wind Factor: Trust the Unpredictable Spirit's Guidance

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.

Unpredictable Guidance. The Holy Spirit, like the wind, is unpredictable and uncontrollable. We must be sensitive to His promptings and trust His guidance, even when it doesn't make sense.

• We must recognize which way the wind of the Spirit is blowing.
• We must respond to the Spirit's guidance.
• We must trust His promptings more than our own plans.

Divine Delays. God often uses delays and detours to get us where He wants us to go. We must not get frustrated by fighting the wind but appreciate the fact that something uncontrollable and unpredictable will get us where God wants us to go.

• We must not be so focused on the destination that we miss the journey.
• We must learn to enjoy the journey.
• We must trust that God is working all things together for our good.

Total Dependence. We must move toward total dependence on God, recognizing that He is the one ordering our footsteps. We must relax and trust that He wants us to get where He wants us to go more than we want to get there.

• We must not try to write our own story.
• We must give Jesus complete editorial control over our lives.
• We must trust that God is awfully good at getting us there.

Last updated: January 26, 2025