Things I learned about my High School Road Rally

These past 2 weeks, I've been slaving away at work trying to put together this insane Road Rally for my high school youth. If you don't know what a Road Rally is, it's basically a scavenger hunt on wheels. Each car is a team & the first team to go through all the clues & get to church the fastest wins! Yay!

As I watched my youth run around the greater Roseville/Rocklin area, I realize how much our fun youth event correlated with sometimes not-so-fun life. This might be a stretch, but bear with me.

For my Road Rally, my youth had various tasks to complete & different "road blocks" to endure that eventually led them to our church. The first team to make it the Cross at church was the winner! The Road Rally's goal was to get to the Cross.

In our lives, we are also working towards a goal. Some of us think that this goal is to be successful or wealthy. The person with the most toys wins! Some may see life's goal as being the most happy or the best person they can be. Good people always go to Heaven, right?

But, as Christians, we see this world through the eyes of Christ. Paul said it best in Philippians.

"...But I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:12b-14)

We are straining toward the ultimate goal ahead: Heaven. Life for us isn't about making the most money or being the best person to those around us. We understand that our goal is a response to what has already been achieved.

Confused?

Let me break it down. God humbled Himself 2,000 years ago & became a human child, 100% man (equally 100% God). He endured the hardships of human life, including a painful death on a barbaric torture device, the Cross. But, here's the kicker. Our story of Christ doesn't end there. It continues 3 days later when Jesus triumphantly rose from the tomb, declaring our sins forgiven & salvation won! Because of the miraculous grace of God, we are able to have the hope in which Paul calls "the prize" of Heaven. Our goal is Heaven, which is attainable because of Christ's life, death & resurrection.

Road Rally tie-in? The goal is the Cross.

Life is going to have road-blocks. Each task that God either throws in our direction or simply allows to happen is all part of His plan. As Paul says, though, we strain towards what is ahead, leaving road-blocks behind. Once a road-block is complete, we move on. We don't dwell on it or mope around because we really liked that particular road-block. If we do, we're not going to get ahead. Instead, we press on. We persevere. We run the race. We focus on the prize in which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus.

This crazy Life Road Rally is a blast! God definitely makes it interesting & pulls out all the stops in His creativity. It's quite the adventure. But, our hope isn't in what we do or don't do here. Our hope is in Christ. In Heaven. In the Cross. As we go about our day, may we continue to focus on His calling to bring us Home.

P.S. My youth absolutely LOVED the Road Rally & we're going to make it a regular event. Next time, I'm going to have someone else pull together all the clues. It's a lot of work!