Vacation Reflections Part 1

I once used Pike's Peak in an illustration to help people think about where they are in their relationship with God. I said to imagine that the top of Pike's Peak represented that they where very close to God and that they where in constant communion with God and there life was fully committed to God. Pike's Peak represented, in this illustration, the closest that one felt they could be to God. At the other end was where we lived in Missouri. Our town was the beginning point on our journey to God.

If we where to map our relationship with God on a map from our home town to Pike's Peak, in terms of our growth and commitment to God, where would we be on that map?

That was the question that was derived from this illustration.

My family and I on our vacation this year made that drive. The actual drive from Trenton, Missouri to Pike's Peak in Colorado is a long trip. The distance between here and there is an impressive distance. It is a long drive across a flat Kansas (I am not knocking Kansas just stating a truth). It is a long drive across Missouri, Kansas and Colorado. In fact the final climb up to the peak of the mountain, while only being 19 miles total is a very long drive. But, the view is amazing and worth the climb. The journey itself is amazing. The journey I think made the destination all the more powerful.

Had Missouri and Kansas been filled with mountains I don't believe the Rockies would have taken my breath away. Had it been a quick and easy trip I don't think the memories would be as special and powerful. My guess is that I would have just taken everything for granted.

In our journey with God, sometimes we just focus on the destination and think it is all about the destination. We think is all about getting to heaven. It is about a life that we can have in the next life and we just let this life pass us by. Jesus wants to use this journey to transform us and to change the world around us. It is all about the journey.

Often times, even when we see the destination as a close relationship with God in this life time, we get focused in on that destination and the gap between where we would like to be and where we actually are. Let's be honest. We all want to be closer to God. At times on the journey, we get overwhelmed by the journey rather than seeing the journey as an important, necessary, and valuable for our relationship with God. It is about journeying with God. It is about allowing God to do a work in us and through us as we go through the ups and downs and the highs and lows. It is about understanding and living that God is with us and never leaves us. It is the joy of the journey as we day by day grow closer and deeper in our love and relationship with God.

So, no matter where we are in the map we can is at work drawing us closer to him. God is using the low places and the dry places to grow us and get us to the destination. Enjoy and take heart in the journey.

Love today.

In Christ's love and mine,

Doug