Destinations and Journeys

When you’re a little kid, you can hardly wait to go to school like the big kids. Then, you can’t wait to be a teenager. After you turn thirteen, your thoughts become focused on being old enough to drive. Once you’re able to drive, you begin can hardly wait to turn 18 so that you’ll be an adult and you’ll finally get some respect. 🙂 But, it seems to me, after 18…or maybe 21 in some circles, the excitement about getting older really begins to wane.

Young adults who are in this stage of life often begin to feel a little lost. They’re not sure what destination to focus their time and attention on. Unlike “milestone” birthdays of their youth that came around every couple of years, the goals they have now are harder and take longer to achieve. These young people will often begin to feel a little restless. They wonder what they should be doing and how to get where they want to go. They want to hurry up and finish college, hurry up and get married, hurry up and have kids, hurry up and get that dream job. So many goals. So many destinations. But, isn’t it true that, once you arrive at a place, there’s really not much left to be excited about.

So, I’ve come to realize…life is truly not about destinations…its about journeys.

When God told Abram and Sarai to leave their home and go to the place He would show them, it wasn’t really about a city to which they were traveling. They just had to go and, along the way is where they grew into the people God needed them to be before He could bless them in the huge way He wanted to.

First of all, they had to really believe God was God. Then, on the journey, they had to learn patience, as they waited for the fulfilment of the promise of having a child. They had to learn there were consequences when they went astray and tried to make God’s promise happen in their own way and in their own timing. They had to trust in God for provision and protection. They had to learn that God would still make things work together for good, even though they had a few lapses in wisdom along the way. They had to be willing to lay all of their own plans, hopes, and dreams on the altar, making God the highest priority.

The destination God had in mind was definitely not a location on a map. It was a journey of the heart. It was a ripping away of all they thought they knew and wanted and it was learning to completely surrender all to God, for His Glory.

Look at other places in scripture…like the Hebrew slaves taking 40 years to make an eleven-day trip. Really? What was that all about? It was about molding and shaping their hearts. It was about giving them time to cast off all the junk with which slavery chained them down and recreating their image of themselves. It was helping them remember they are God’s chosen people. It was helping them remember He loves them and He will provide for them. It was helping them remember that He is in charge. It was about testing them to make sure that they were really ready to receive all the huge things that God had for them on the other side of the Jordan.

Then there’s Jonah. Oh, Jonah. God told him to go and he said no. What? No?! And God was just like, “Oh, but you’re going, dude.” (paraphrased from the Lisa Ross Version) Jonah ran and God pursued. It took a fish to eat him and barf him back up on the shore to get him to the physical location to do the work God gave him, but the location of Jonah’s heart was what had to be in the right place before God could use him. 

Job. Wow. What a story. The man had it all, lost it all, and got it all back again. This was a true test of his heart toward God. Satan tried every trick in the book to get Job to give in, but Job wasn’t having any of it. Oh, he hurt. He hurt plenty. He was in pain and he was confused and he felt lost, but he never gave up on God. The end result was a double-portion of blessing, but it was never about the end-blessing. The entire ordeal was about showing the Devil what real men of God are made of.

Esther, Daniel, Mary…the stories are endless and all of them carry this one common thread. It’s what you learn on the journey that prepares you for your destination.

Even in my own life, there have been battles. But, in retrospect, I can’t think of a single battle that didn’t have a higher purpose. There’s nothing that I’ve been asked to endure that God didn’t use for a bigger reason in my life or in the life of someone else. Losing my father at a young age helped me see the strength that was in my mother…strength that I would later need to draw upon for guidance in my own life. My sisters dying when I was 15 taught me never to take anyone for granted. Sometimes, young people die and you have to choose to thank God for the time you had with them, rather than to resent the time you feel you got gipped out of. My three-year separation from my husband taught me that truly anything—everything—is able to be forgiven. These life-lessons have molded me in to a softer, kinder, gentler me. They have made me grateful and compassionate. They have helped me minister to other people who are hurting, to give them hope that God is still for them…especially when they’re hurting.

So, as we go about our day…our lives…there will highs and there will be lows. We will have set-backs and victories. We will have times of basking in the beauty of God’s presence and times of wondering if He can hear us at all. It’s all part of our journey. God is using everything in our lives to mold us and shape us into the people He wants us to be. That car that just cut you off, it was there to help you remember to love–always. That person at work that drives you crazy, they’re teaching  you endurance. Your kids screaming, that’s there for patience. The loss of someone you dearly love…it’s there to help you remember not to store up treasures for yourself here on Earth, but to have a heart that is turned toward the treasures of Heaven.

Don’t let any of life’s little distractions get you down. If your 5-year plan ends up taking 10, who cares? I mean, set goals, make plans, but don’t be bound by any of them. Let God move you from one thing to the next or simply refuse to move. He has always searched for people who are after His own heart…looking to Him for guidance. Search for His powerful lessons that are packed into your everyday lives. Seek His hand and you will find it in everything…teaching, guidance, and love. Most importantly, don’t worry about where you going…just remember to enjoy the ride!