The Journey

Remember back in the day, those planning a special vacation or road trip would have AAA put together a Trip Kit? I think now it’s called a Trip Tik. The point being receiving a pre-planned route to a desired destination, from an experienced professional that has determined the best course for you. Of course, now we use GPS but don’t always know what is ahead or the path there.

In the biggest journey we will take in life, God actually has a plan for us that in fact is predetermined.

Psalm 139:15-16  says My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

 God has a beautiful plan for our life, better than the one we planned or imagined for ourselves, with a desired outcome. It is specific, full of purpose, and all that our heart longs for. Once we come to Christ, we are in covenant communion with the Creator of the universe, our Maker. And we get to become His Bride. There is a concentrated period of learning and becoming. And there is also an undoing.

 Those areas in us that God wants to remove, heal or straighten, require valleys and deserts. It necessitates challenges. The wilderness becomes a way of life for a season. It doesn’t happen on the mountain top.  We must be processed. Some painful things are orchestrated, some not, yet God will use. If we will allow it.

 For instance, once God told us to sell our big, beautiful house we designed and built and go into the ministry. One of our big intentions was to become debt free. So, we did. We bought an Airstream and some land. One thing and another with delayed blueprints, yearlong flooding and we lived in the camper for 3 years. It was not really what we envisioned or thought we signed up for. I cried myself to sleep most of that season, while God did major heart surgery in me. It was there He became Lord. I look back on that season now 30 plus years ago as some of the sweetest years, almost face to face with my King. I learned to pray on the deserted gravel road in the Everglades where bears and deer frequented our property.

 You see the inner man, the heart, is hewn along the way. The road is actually fashioned by God with all the experiences that bring about the goal of heart surrender. It’s the way of the cross. The way of death. To that which God can then use. He knows exactly what it will take for us to become usable. Sometimes it takes a lifetime, sometimes it is done in just part of it. But we are not done until we are done.

 The trip is actually to know Him. It’s designed to bring us into the fullness of His expression in the earth. But we must first be made.

 The key question God wants to know is, are we willing? Is He truly Lord? Does what He says goes? Does He have our yes? In both the good and in the hard? Are we open to not only beginning but seeing through the adventure He has for us, for His purpose in the end?

 Some seek, search and follow the plan from beginning to end and then there are  others that want to try to figure it out on their own. Many start strong then get stuck on the side of the road. And that too is actually part of it. But God will use it, if we don’t quit. The only way we fail is if we choose not to make the U-turn. There are no dead ends in God. Only through roads. If we are following Him.

 Life in Christ is a scenic road trip. With its designated twists and turns. Divine appointments even. Yes, with hills and valleys, oceans and green pastures. The beauty is in the journey. If we trust the process. There will be surprises that are better than we imagined and detours we had not planned on. Not every exit has a sign. There will be tunnels and narrow passages. But if we don’t divert, we will have gained…Him.  Our destiny is not a location but rather a journey.

Will we take it?