The Journey

My daily Bible journey is taking me through the book of Numbers.  This morning I read chapter 32, which is a summary of the forty-year wilderness trek of the Hebrews after they left Egypt. While some Scripture can and should be applied directly to our lives, we usually should not force an application but simply find God’s grace in the words.  However, I can’t help but compare my life to the wilderness wanderings described in chapter 32.

I have moved from job to job over the years, usually involuntarily due to downsizings, but for other reasons, as well.  Today I find myself facing unemployment again due to a mess I had the great misfortune of being associated with.  I have not physically camped in Makheloth or Hor-haggidgad, but I have pitched my tent in places I would have rather not stopped.  I can look back and wish the journey would have been an uninterrupted flow with a clear and easy path, but it wasn’t.  Certainly, some of that is my own doing; I am a sinful, selfish creature who thinks he knows best.  But I can also look back at the journey and recognize that God led me down parts of the path, pushed me down others, and He probably dragged me kicking and screaming down others. And, of course, there are a few side paths on the journey where I bushwhacked and came to dead ends and was forced to turn back.

When we list God’s attributes we don’t usually name exasperation; rather, we mention His righteousness and holiness.  But if you are a righteous and holy God demanding that a people follow you, then surely you must become exasperated when they don’t.  God punished the Hebrews for their disobedience, yet He remained patient with them.  He had made promises to them about being His people and possessing a land and blessing all nations through them.  God keeps His promises despite the nature of the path that brings us to the fulfillment of those promises.  But surely we try His patience.

Right now I cannot see the path in front of me.  I know where it ultimately leads and I long for that day, but I cannot say what the next part of the path will bring.  Will it be an uphill struggle with little water for sustenance?  Will the path be shrouded in fog so I have to carefully place each step?  Or will the clouds part, the sun shine through, the angels sing and I start skipping singing How Great Thou Art at the top of my lungs?

Wherever the path leads, I must focus on obedience, i.e., not exasperating God.  The Christian’s walk is about obedience and discipline, neither of which is a bad word.  Although we usually speak of the wilderness wanderings as a time of trials, the Hebrews also found great joy in the wilderness.  They formed as a nation after having been slaves.  They were blessed with God’s presence.  They were given laws to obey that would govern and protect them.  They learned, sometimes in a very difficult way, to trust God.  I have also found joy in the journey. I have been blessed with family, friends, satisfying work and many opportunities to serve God.  I have learned that God is faithful at all points on the path, regardless of my feelings.  I have learned to trust Him, as I do now.

I own a T-shirt with the phrase “The Journey is the Destination” printed on the front.  I understand the thought: enjoy the journey, stop and smell the roses, look around you at the beauty, know that the struggles helped define you, etc.  For the believer, the journey is absolutely important.  On the journey we learn what it means to have a relationship with God.  On the journey we learn trust and faith.  On the journey we look for other travelers to go with us and teach them what we have learned.  The journey is critical because it leads us to the destination, and the destination is everything.  The destination makes the path bearable.  When the fog descends, when we are surrounded by thorns, when we seem to be on a constant uphill struggle, we can lift our eyes and still see the brightness of the destination that awaits us.  The title of this blog is This World Below.  It comes from a line in the song, Poor Wayfaring Stranger:   

Whatever my path brings, it will lead me home.