The Beauty Of The Journey
It has always stuck with me the fact that God is better to us than we are to ourselves. Take this journey of our lives on this earth. Our thoughts as to what makes a successful life and the progression to get there and the way the culture of our day dictates success isn’t always the best way. If you go that route, you may find yourself at your destination but your well-being and wholeness becomes at risk for a deep loss. The journey is so important to the well-being of our inner lives. And God knows this very well. In fact, He created us to enjoy the journey with Him in beautiful fellowship, beside still waters and through green pastures for the purpose of restoring your soul. He is truly a good God.
This realization hits me more and more as I grow older and the energies of youthful control over my own life starts to dwindle. You begin to see a pattern as you grow in your relationship with God where you know that if you don’t hear anything certain, then you wait. If you have certain dreams that were dashed, you begin to see why and He shows you a glimpse of what is truly most important in life than conquering all our own dreams. Some of those dreams do come from Him and others are just our own expectations and expectations of others playing on our emotions. But with God, together you can sort it all out.
I imagine at times, that life here with God is preparation for the life we will enjoy in heaven for eternity. We will have and enjoy great relationships in heaven. So we get to practice here. We will play music on musical instruments. We get to practice on as many as we get our hands on here. We will be living creative beings flowing with it in heaven and expressing the beauty of the One who created us. We get to do as much as we can here. If we focus on God and learn His heart, the complicated and restrictive desires start to lose focus and He can direct us into the flow of living where we are more free to pursue the beauty of His love in everything. But our focus has to change. We have to fix our eyes more so on what is unseen and live for the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen. We have to live by faith in God. Our hope has to be Him. Our joy in Him. Our sense of purpose and fulfillment in Him.
All these thoughts came last week when I was in my car and heading to a friends home. There are so many ways to take us to where we want to go. I could have taken the usual route along the highway near my home that intersects to another highway. It’s a decently fast way and direct. Google maps would have told me that it would be most efficient that way.
But as I was waiting at the intersection to turn onto the highway, a new direction took shape in my mind. And it was an amazing way that I had NEVER thought of before. It was a way that only God could have known I’d absolutely love. It is over my favorite historic iron bridge. It travels along a river with curves going this way and that, lined with flowering trees. It continues through wide-open fields. And as I traveled this route, I was amazed. There was no traffic. It was just me and winding roads and wide-open spaces and old barns and the journey was lovely. I’m not even sure this way of getting to my friends home took longer than the main highways. I was so enjoying the beauty and tranquility that it didn’t even matter. I did arrive at my friends house and I was at peace inside. I was already filled with a sense of wonder and my senses had been beautifully blessed. This is the kind of journey God wants to bless His precious human-kind with. It was His idea that He sparked. It was His suggestion for me because He loves me.
See how Gods ways are so much better than our own or of the way the culture says you have to go? You don’t have to go with the flow of this world. Go with God’s. Do things His way. He is the Good Shepherd - you will not lack any good thing. He will make you lay down in green pastures. He will lead you beside still waters. He will restore your soul. He will lead you in paths of righteousness. You will fear no evil. Psalm 23
Take God’s hand and let Him lead you precious child. He so wants to. Enjoy the journey with God and find the beauty of relationship.
“May God, who gives us peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, who through the blood by which He ratified the everlasting covenant, is now the Great Shepherd of the sheep, perfectly fit you to do His will, He Himself, through Jesus Christ, accomplishing through you what is pleasing to Him. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20-21
“In accordance with His will He made us His children by the message of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.” James 1:18
This realization hits me more and more as I grow older and the energies of youthful control over my own life starts to dwindle. You begin to see a pattern as you grow in your relationship with God where you know that if you don’t hear anything certain, then you wait. If you have certain dreams that were dashed, you begin to see why and He shows you a glimpse of what is truly most important in life than conquering all our own dreams. Some of those dreams do come from Him and others are just our own expectations and expectations of others playing on our emotions. But with God, together you can sort it all out.
I imagine at times, that life here with God is preparation for the life we will enjoy in heaven for eternity. We will have and enjoy great relationships in heaven. So we get to practice here. We will play music on musical instruments. We get to practice on as many as we get our hands on here. We will be living creative beings flowing with it in heaven and expressing the beauty of the One who created us. We get to do as much as we can here. If we focus on God and learn His heart, the complicated and restrictive desires start to lose focus and He can direct us into the flow of living where we are more free to pursue the beauty of His love in everything. But our focus has to change. We have to fix our eyes more so on what is unseen and live for the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen. We have to live by faith in God. Our hope has to be Him. Our joy in Him. Our sense of purpose and fulfillment in Him.
All these thoughts came last week when I was in my car and heading to a friends home. There are so many ways to take us to where we want to go. I could have taken the usual route along the highway near my home that intersects to another highway. It’s a decently fast way and direct. Google maps would have told me that it would be most efficient that way.
But as I was waiting at the intersection to turn onto the highway, a new direction took shape in my mind. And it was an amazing way that I had NEVER thought of before. It was a way that only God could have known I’d absolutely love. It is over my favorite historic iron bridge. It travels along a river with curves going this way and that, lined with flowering trees. It continues through wide-open fields. And as I traveled this route, I was amazed. There was no traffic. It was just me and winding roads and wide-open spaces and old barns and the journey was lovely. I’m not even sure this way of getting to my friends home took longer than the main highways. I was so enjoying the beauty and tranquility that it didn’t even matter. I did arrive at my friends house and I was at peace inside. I was already filled with a sense of wonder and my senses had been beautifully blessed. This is the kind of journey God wants to bless His precious human-kind with. It was His idea that He sparked. It was His suggestion for me because He loves me.
See how Gods ways are so much better than our own or of the way the culture says you have to go? You don’t have to go with the flow of this world. Go with God’s. Do things His way. He is the Good Shepherd - you will not lack any good thing. He will make you lay down in green pastures. He will lead you beside still waters. He will restore your soul. He will lead you in paths of righteousness. You will fear no evil. Psalm 23
Take God’s hand and let Him lead you precious child. He so wants to. Enjoy the journey with God and find the beauty of relationship.
“May God, who gives us peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, who through the blood by which He ratified the everlasting covenant, is now the Great Shepherd of the sheep, perfectly fit you to do His will, He Himself, through Jesus Christ, accomplishing through you what is pleasing to Him. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20-21
“In accordance with His will He made us His children by the message of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.” James 1:18
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