Travel Tips

Currently I am traveling and while it can be fun there are parts of it that I don’t like. Being away from my family of course is number one on the list. The delays are a significant irritation to me as well.  You feel like life has stopped.  My wife often jokes with me about my need for efficiency, especially when driving somewhere.  Getting some place efficiently as possible is a huge thing to me.  I would like to think that it comes from a desire to never waste time and bring God the maximum effort from my life.  Ok the real reason is that I am very impatient.  Not a good quality!  It does not get any easier even though I know that every journey requires patience.

Currently I am traveling and while it can be fun there are parts of it that I don’t like. Being away from my family of course is number one on the list. The delays are a significant irritation to me as well.  You feel like life has stopped.  My wife often jokes with me about my need for efficiency, especially when driving somewhere.  Getting some place efficiently as possible is a huge thing to me.  I would like to think that it comes from a desire to never waste time and bring God the maximum effort from my life.  Ok the real reason is that I am very impatient.  Not a good quality!  It does not get any easier even though I know that every journey requires patience.

I have come to realize that impatient people often times miss out on what can be learned on a journey because they are so focused on the end result.  Every journey has stops and starts, obstacles as well as the quiet restful times.  No journey is completely easy, nor is it an unending experience of suffering.  The journey brings about encounters with people and situations that provide us with the stories and remembrances of God’s presence the entire way.  Even so I admit I am not a journey person but more a destination person. 

Think about how many times in scripture God sent people on a journey.  Abraham was told to leave his homeland and travel to a new unknown place.  Joseph was forcibly taken from his home and sold into slavery.  His journey was painful but never outside the love and providence of God.  Israel was given their freedom from slavery only to be on a forty year journey in a desert. They didn’t enjoy the journey very much.  In the New Testament God stopped Saul in his tracks, changed his heart and his name and the apostle Paul went on several missionary journeys that impacted millions of people and continues to do so today.

Then there was that one journey that changed everything for us all.  It is summed up beautifully in Philippians chapter 2:5-8.

You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had,who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross!   

Jesus took a journey from the comfort of heaven and his relationship with his Father to be a slave.  He didn’t have to make the journey but he did it for us.  All the while he was patient and obedient to the process that his Father had placed before him.  He never resisted the experiences of his journey but used them for their full impact.  It makes the irritating travel delays seem silly to me.

God has you on a journey for and with a purpose.  The difference between people who experience joy, peace and purpose on the journey is whether or not you invite God to go with you.  He will direct your path and lead the way.  He does not promise that it will be easy but it is much better to do it with him than without.  The result of Jesus journey is that “God exalted him”.  God is a great travel companion and He makes all the difference in the world so enjoy the journey wherever He takes you.