The Journey

Today- in just a few short hours I will take my oldest on his first official college trip.  He’s been to visit several colleges, but this trip is the real deal. He will have interviews and his first audition for a college level performing arts department.  He is completely calm about the whole thing.  I’m a little nervous about it…but that may be the journey rather than the actual event.

The journey will not be easy.  It’s a minimum trip of 10 ½ hours to get there…but that is just part of the trip.  Because of a previous commitment and a change in a performance schedule that couldn’t be changed, we have to drive two hours south to Macon before turning around and driving the 10 ½ hours back north to Ohio.  This roundabout way of getting to our destination made me  think about how any of us get to where God wants us to be. 

Some of us- the lucky ones of us- take a direct route to where God wants us.  Our path is clear early on, we get on it, and we take the straight and narrow way to our destiny.  Others of us-take the roundabout way…the bumpy way…the curvy way…the anything but straight way to what God has for us. I think the latter is probably more common- even if just for a portion of the journey. 

My question- why is that? 

For some, it’s not knowing the right path.  It’s a lack of having a GPS of sorts.  If we don’t ask for directions, we get lost on the path along the way.  Maybe we don’t know to ask (we don’t know we’ve gotten off course) or maybe we’re just not willing to stop long enough to ask.   Either way, it’s just a plain lack of knowledge. Not to pick on you guys, but this is a little like the stereotypical male who refuses to stop and ask directions. 

For others, the path is not exciting enough if we don’t take a few detours.  A little side road looks interesting so we try it- just to see what’s down it.  Now I’ll pick on the ladies.  This is like the woman on a shopping trip who just has to go down one more little side street to see what antique shop or other hidden treasure may be down there.   We take a detour because it looks appealing, but this gets us off course.  We find our way back, but only after we’ve taken our eyes off the correct route for a portion of time.

For still others, there is a complete turning in the other direction for a time before getting back on course.  This is like what is happening for my son and me today on this college trip.  We are purposefully going in the complete opposite direction before turning around and going the right way.  For us- this is because of a previous commitment, but it is also a choice.  Even though it’s a commitment, we could choose to forego that commitment to make it an easier route to keep the bigger commitment. 

If we liken this to our Spiritual journey, any of these is a dangerous way to follow God.  God wants us to keep our eyes on Him; He wants us to remember that our commitment to follow Him is the much bigger commitment than anything else we can do.  We should see the path He’s laid out for us as the one and only choice we have.  In the same way, we should be asking for directions not just when we “think” we need them, but every single day- every minute of every day, actually.  As for those interesting looking side roads…if there is not a huge flashing detour sign from the Lord, we shouldn’t even look down that road, much less get on it. 

Today my son and I have made the personal choice to take the roundabout trip, but we are prepared.  We have a GPS, and will ask for directions if needed.  We will stay far away from any detours, and most importantly, we will keep our eyes on the final destination.  Will it be easy?  No, but hopefully our choice will not keep us from the full blessing of our journey in the right direction and ultimately our final destination.

That’s the goal isn’t it…keeping our eyes on Jesus and our feet moving in the right direction. 

Keep moving…