Fourth in the Series The Twelve Days as Twelve Ways to Deepen Your Connection with God.

No one can take this journey for you. The journey toward God is yours--start to finish. Setting out has energized you, and following this Star is the one things you now know you must do. You're afraid of this journey into the unknown, but you fear more staying put, staying where you were, stuck in the rut that's been your life up till now.

The journey toward God is yours, but that doesn't mean you have to walk it alone, nor should you. You'll need companionship along the way, for this is neither a safe or easy journey.

As you proceed, you'll most likely want to choose your own companions. Who doesn't? There are scoundrels out there, and who wants to spend a long journey side by side with someone whose personality grates on you like fingers on a chalkboard?

Honestly though, those who will help you most aren't the ones you'd choose for yourself. So, don't go looking for your companions. Instead, keep focused on the Star, the One you seek. Walk in the light that's given you and remain open to God's mischief along the way. The Holy Spirit will orchestrate surprise meetings with remarkable people traveling in the same direction. You'll miss them if you focus on making your own friends. These God sends your way might not fit in at a dinner party back home, but they're the ones who'll bring you the comfort, humor, wisdom, safety, and challenge you'll need along this road.

And when the night is darkest and the companions you need are nowhere in sight, here's the best mischief of all . . . the Light you seek at the end of your journey will walk beside you, thought you cannot yet see it.

Today, I'll trust that the companions I need will come. I don't need to find them. I will wait and watch in faith. And when they're given to me, I will listen with my heart for the gifts they bring.