While driving to work today, I had an epiphany. Many times in life, I’m inclined to take the easy road and think that once I reach that “destination,” that next best thing, I will be happy, or complete. Yes, the journey is nice. Yes, you see some great things as well as experience some big heartaches. Blah. Blah. Blah. I just want to be there. It’s sort of like when you’re on a really, really long car ride and just long to have your feet on solid ground. I find myself wanting to jump out of the car sometimes when the journey seems too long. I’m so anxious to reach the destination that I fail to enjoy the journey. Now, don’t tune me out because I’m not giving you a “stop and smell the roses speech.” I’ve come a long way in the last few years, and after my Dad died, I have learned to stop and smell the roses. What I am going to talk about is personal growth, spiritual growth. Just stay with me, I promise you’ll grow a little, too.
On my drive this morning, I thought about the journey versus the destination analogy, and how it is applicable to the Christian life. Some folks think that once you become a Christian, you’ve reached your destination. While it’s true that becoming a Christian is a big decision, it is only the beginning of the journey. Each and every decision, thought, action contributes to the journey of being a Christian–even the ones where we fail. Beginning the journey of following Christ doesn’t make you automatically Christ-like. It makes you start to think differently, reflecting on what you can do to be more like Christ and less like the world. I’ve been a Christian since I was 12 years old, and it’s a continual journey in which I fail. I fail because I am human but I try again because I am compelled to do so by the Holy Spirit and because of my reverence for the destination.
I disappoint people, I say things that I shouldn’t, and I do things that I shouldn’t do. But, the best news of all is that God doesn’t love me any less. I am on my journey, growing as I go, and learning to love myself in spite of the faults. God could never mold me into the person that I am supposed to be if not for the journey, if not for the failures. Being receptive to what his plan is for me, through recognizing my faults but not being defined by them, is enjoying the journey. I don’t want to go through this life with self-defeating thoughts, missing the journey.
My journey isn’t the same as your journey, my struggles aren’t the same as yours. We are all given different journeys because we are individuals! What makes sense to me, may not make sense to you. But you know what? That’s ok. God knows our hearts, and he speaks to them as personally as I speak to you now. If God had a cookie-cutter approach, he would be too easily dismissed. He lets us experience the good and the bad, the bitter and the sweet. I am thankful for the good things in my life, although sometimes I take them all for granted. But, as crazy as it seems, I am equally thankful for the bad things in my life. They keep me humble, they keep me grounded, and they make me strong. Pay attention to your journey and when you do, you can truly appreciate the way in which God speaks to you. God doesn’t call you or send you a text message, he speaks to the heart. He tries to help guide you on the journey, giving you growing opportunities. Seize the growing opportunities and just let God…speak. I know that sometimes I behave like a defiant child, and choose not to listen. And sometimes, even though I’ve been obedient, bad things happen. It doesn’t mean that I’m bad, it doesn’t mean that I’m loved any less. It’s quite the opposite. Because I am loved, because I am wonderfully made, I am imperfect. My spirit is undergoing a God-sized adjustment, and I know I’ll never be perfect. But, I can be receptive to the new seed God has placed in my heart…and enjoy the journey, while looking upon the destination from a new perspective.
Messpot Diaries 