I could almost smell it, this pervasive stench of doubt and second-guessing. Amidst the rank odor, I know deep down in my heart that if I had only jumped on the opportunity that had been placed before me, my life would have been vastly different. I’ve said this about more than one business proposition, and more than one job offer. I’ve lost sleep over regret and countless “what ifs:” “If only I could’ve been brave enough,” I chastise myself. Perhaps it was a matter of timing: if the timing had been better, things would’ve been different. The relationship would’ve worked out and we would not only be together, but dating, engaged or married. Or, maybe it was a matter of decision-making: we were unable to see past the logical confines and elaborate implications of our decisions, so we took the low road of making no decision at all. The stories are all similar and they all continue to go on and on with similarly dissatisfying results: we never get around to experiencing that life-changing event. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” – Matthew 28:10 This story depicts two women, friends of Jesus, at his tomb on Easter Sunday. We’re probably all very familiar with this scene: when two women find the tomb empty, the resurrection movement, which we know as Christianity, is begun. The context of this verse demonstrates the teleological implications for God’s active engagement within our lives: in other words, there are intersections in our lives at which we can directly and very tangibly experience the movement of God in our lives without stretching forth in faith. What? That’s right, we have opportunities in our lives where we don’t need faith to experience God, where God is so blatantly working and moving that it’s obvious and plain to anybody and everybody. We call this a life-changing event. Most of the time, this life-changing event is the moment in which you accept Christ as your savior. God actively gives you the faith in the form of some type of truth and BAM, it hits you harder than an anvil across the bridge of your nose and suddenly you’re crying because you experience God’s life-changing activity for the first time in your life. This same thing happened to these two women. They didn’t have an out-of-body experience attainable only through an individualized faith; rather, they had a real, tangible experience birthed from God’s working. Here’s what I’m getting at: in our hearts, there are leanings and inclinations that are not simply ill-defined sensory perceptions. Rather, they are instructions for us to go to Galilee, where we can experience God in a very real and tangible way. Galilee, if you don’t know already, is “the right place at the right time.” However, it’s not just the right place and right time for any ordinary opportunity, but the God-ordained place and time for a receiving of authority. When we go to Galilee to receive Jesus and see him personally, we are granted the same authority that is granted to Him by God, the Father. There’s no doubt about that: it’s in the Bible, just a few chapters after today’s verse. Ultimately, the choice of whether you receive that authority or not, is yours. The opportunity to choose only comes when you take that plainly obvious feeling to do something beyond the ordinary, and go to Galilee– the place you know in your heart you have to go! I know this Devotional has been a largely abstract one, but here’s the point: we will experience the power of God in our lives, if we are not be afraid to go. We live too many waking hours in fear. We spend too much time in-between here, where we are, and Galilee, where we can experience God. I want to challenge you – and perhaps this is what you need – to come with me to Galilee and see what Jesus has in store for our lives. You need not be afraid to go. You need not faith to receive. You need only a desire and curiosity to see God actively engaging in our lives. Make the decision today: come to Galilee. Jesus is waiting, and so is a life-altering opportunity.