As a person who loves adventure, I have at times paid a heavy price in my pursuit of new challenges and discoveries. I have experienced countless breaks, cuts, sprains, and muscle pulls riding motorcycles and mountain bikes. I’ve fallen off a rock cliff and shattered my arm, rolled my snowmobile down a mountain, crashed violently on water skis and wakeboards, and nearly drowned from surfing wipeouts.

I can’t fail to mention multiple near-death experiences while snow skiing off cliff areas. (By the way, if you ski past a sign that says, “extreme cliff danger,” that’s exactly what it means.) Anyone who knows me would agree: this is just a small sampling of my epic-adventure fails.

I am well acquainted with the extreme neck and back pain that follows my misadventures, but…I just have this insatiable desire to explore nature. In fact, I’m willing to risk just about anything to experience more.

But I am just as driven to explore the nature of God and to experience more of Him, too. The truth is, we all have an innate desire to know God. It’s just a matter of whether we will seek to fulfill it. Will we seek Him fully with heart, soul, strength, and mind? Will we risk it all for Him? Or will we keep playing it safe, settling for the imitations of this world? How boring!

God wants us to seek more of Him. Hebrews 11:6 says, “He rewards those who sincerely seek him.” How amazing is that? As we desire more of God and seek to experience all that He has for us, we will always be led to greater rewards. There is an adventure awaiting each of us.

I love Psalm 85:13: “Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps” (NIV). God has prepared a path of adventure that leads right to His hidden treasures. Adventures await us, filled with great unknowns and discoveries. We just have to get off the safe, well-beaten path of this world to find them.

He doesn’t hide these treasures so we never find them and become discouraged, but so that we can experience the joy of discovery. As a father, I remember playing hide and seek with my kids. I would hide just long enough for them to be excited about the search and the discovery of where I was located, and then I’d let them find me. It was like a treasure hunt with a bountiful reward—and it’s the same for those who take the time to seek God. God promises that if we seek Him, we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). No matter where you are, He is there.

How much of God do you want? Are you satisfied with just enough, or are you following the desire He has placed in you to want more of Him?

First Corinthians 2:9–12 says, “ ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.’ But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.” God has so much more He wants to reveal to you by His Spirit!

I have never been disappointed by going on an adventure with God and seeking His treasures. You won’t be either. I pray that you will discover the joy, deliverance, and peace He has waiting for you along the path He has prepared for your feet.

Does this story strike a chord for you? Read the entire May 2018 issue here.

Photo by  Doran Erickson