We drove 707 miles today – across Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. Our journey across America is almost over! We should be back in Lynchburg on Thursday night for a very brief stay. We head out again on Monday morning to begin working on a very cool DVD project. More on that one later…
This has been a very interesting trip and, as I was driving today (deep in thought) I realized how much this cross-country adventure is like life in general. I have experienced incredible scenery, mountain tops and valleys, changing weather conditions, twists and turns in the roads and unexpected detours. Life is a lot like that at times. We have great times of happiness and joy (the mountain tops) and we share times of sadness (the valleys). We make our plans and then there are unexpected detours. We think we have everything all planned out. We think we know what’s ahead of us but then things take a turn.
Because of my faith, I believe nothing touches my life that doesn’t first pass through the fingers of God (symbolically of course). Basically, I believe that every event in my life – big or small – serves a purpose and is known by God.
What I learned (or confirmed) today while going to iPod church is that God is more concerned about how I experience this journey of life than He is with my arrival at the final destination. It is through the journey and the challenges that I face that my relationship with Him grows and develops. My trust and dependence on Him increase as He provides and proves Himself to me in every instance.
These things are not so different than the relationships we have in our lives. It is through the trials and challenges we face that we learn who our friends are; who sticks with us; who those people are on whom we can depend. And, as we become involved in the lives of others, we have the opportunity to bring those qualities into their lives.
Could God just take me to the final destination without the “journey?†Sure He could. He’s God. He can do anything He wants. But think of all that I would miss along the way – getting to know Him in a more personal and experiential way. Learning about His care and His provision. And trusting, even when things don’t always look great for me, that He knows what’s around the corner and only wants me to trust Him.