The seventh in a series of posts on companionship and the spiritual journey. Please pass along to those you consider companions on your journey into the fullness of God. As you journey forward, 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’s as annoying as a garbage truck slamming dumpsters around outside your window at five in the morning?

I’ve come to learn that those who’ll help you most aren’t the ones you’d choose for yourself. So don’t go looking for your companions. Instead, keep focused on what 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. Some of them are already part of your life; you’ve just not yet recognized their gifts for your journey and yours for theirs. If you focus on trying to find the friends you think you need, you’ll miss those God’s already put right under your nose, as well as those God will bring you.

And don’t be fooled by the sometimes strange folk God brings your way; these companions might not fit in well at a dinner party back home, but in the mischief of God, they’re the ones who’ll bring you the comfort, humor, wisdom, safety, and challenge you’ll need along the road to God.