“Life is not a problem to be solved, it’s an adventure to be lived.”
— John Eldredge
“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered.”
— G.K. Chesterton
WILD AT HEART
Over the past month I’ve been working back through John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart. I first read it years ago, but I decided to recently pick it back up and I am really glad I did as it lands completely different now as a husband, and especially as a father to a son.
In the final chapter Eldredge is moving towards his final commissioning of men to go out and life wholehearted lives. In doing so, he writes a line that really stuck with me:
“Life is not a problem to be solved, it’s an adventure to be lived.”
My first reaction, if I’m honest, was a bit jaded. I immediately pictured the type of man who abandons responsibility under the banner of “adventure.” The guy who walks away from the quiet duties of life abandoning his family, work, and call to provide in order to chase whatever pleasure feels exciting in the moment.
But as I kept reading, it became clear that Eldredge meant the exact opposite. He wasn’t calling men to escape responsibility. He was calling them to embrace responsibility as an adventure placed before them by God himself.
That realization forced me to examine something about my own life.
PROBLEM SOLVING MINDSET
When I step back and honestly evaluate the way I approach most of my days, I am guilty of the very thing Eldredge is pushing against. I treat life as a series of problems to solve.
Wake up. Assess the issues. Optimize the decisions. Minimize the risk. Control the outcomes.
If I were bold enough to wager, I would bet that many of us operate this way.
The problem is that when every situation is viewed through the lens of our life as a “problem,” we subtly place ourselves at the center of control. Our security becomes tied to our ability to eliminate uncertainty and peace becomes the product of perfecting our planning. We believe that if we can just make all the right decisions, mitigate as much risk as possible, and control enough variables then our life will be exactly where it needs to be.
It will be safe, predictable, and comfortable. All things that lead to the prosperity we are hoping for…right?
But the more I think about it, the more I realize that Jesus never invited us into a life of risk management.
ADVENTURE IS COMING
The word adventure comes from the Latin adventura, meaning “that which is about to happen.”
At its core, adventure implies stepping into the unknown. Inherent in it’s meaning is the idea of risk, uncertainty, surrender, and dependence. Which is funny, because that list sounds a lot like faith to me.
Faith isn’t bout controlling outcomes. It’s is about trusting God with them.
When we see life purely as a problem to solve, we try to engineer our way into safety. But when we see life as an adventure with God, we begin to understand that uncertainty is not the enemy, it’s often the God’s provision to grow our faith.
Now, this doesn’t mean life suddenly becomes free of problems. Of course difficulties will come. But those problems are no longer the entire story. They become chapters within the larger adventure God is writing.
THE ADVENTURE IN FRONT OF YOU
When many people hear the word adventure, they think of grand gestures.
Things like quitting your job. Grabbing your backpack, booking the flight, and traveling the world. Summiting peaks, getting lost in the wild, removing anything that might infringe on your perception of freedom.
But most of the adventures that God invites us into look far more ordinary. Your workplace is not just a place to collect a paycheck, it becomes a field of influence. Your coworkers are not problems to manage, but hearts to love. Your family is not just a set of responsibilities, but souls entrusted to your care.
The adventure of following Jesus rarely looks like escape. More often it looks like faithfulness in the middle of the life already in front of you. Saying yes when you don’t have all the answers. Stepping into conversations that feel uncertain. Trusting that God is writing a story that’s bigger than you.
THE STORY GOD IS WRITING
The truth is, most of us deeply want our lives to matter. That’s often the motivation behind doing the big, loud, and extravagant things. We want to look back and know that our time was spent well. That our days were not just maintenance and management, but something meaningful.
But as believers we must accept the reality that meaning rarely grows in the soil of total control. It grows in the soils of trust and surrender.
When we follow Jesus, our lives become part of a larger narrative. A narrative that we don’t fully understand yet. Each day becomes an opportunity to step into what God has placed before us, trusting that He is weaving it together for good. The invitation is not to abandon responsibility. The invitation is to walk with God through it.
A FINAL CHARGE
This week, try a small shift in perspective. Instead of treating each moment like another problem to solve, begin to see your day as an unfolding adventure.
When a difficult conversation arises, or if there is an unexpected interruption, or an opportunity you didn’t plan for. Step back for a few seconds and reframe your disposition.
These may not just be inconveniences. They may be part of the story God is writing. Lean into the responsibility in front of you. Submit your steps to Christ.
And trust that even the uncertainty of today is not outside His plan.
Because when you walk with God, life stops being a puzzle to control. It becomes the great adventure you get to step into.
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