I don’t like journeys! They tire me out, I get confused, I get lost along the way. I just want to get there, by the quickest, easiest, most straitghforward route possible in as little time as possible!
However, I have been reflecting a little on this theme of life being a journey and not a destination. Infact I went as far a looking for something to read on it and came across Joyce Meyer’s book, “Enjoy Your Journey – find the treasure hidden in every day’. Where she speaks about this enjoying, taking pleasure in our journeys, not just rushing through .
Then in church we read from Psalm 84:5-7
Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage . As they pass through the valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs, the Autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
And as I write this from my holiday in the South of Cornwall, I am watching people every day make a pilgrimage over to St Michael’s Mount. As soon as it is low tide, there they are off with their little backpacks, off on their pilgrimage walking the way of the many before them.
A pilgrimage is not a quick journey, it is something you prepare for, and you stop along the way setting up camp, discovering new things, finding treasures in beauty and blessings around. It is slow, deliberate, intentional, with a firm goal and destination in mind. That destination counts for the way you travel, the people you spend your time with, the priorities you set, the places you stop, the people you help , those you influence and those who influence you.
The pilgrims in Psalm 84 had to go through this dry, hard valley, but even there they made it a place of springs, even there they found strength and joy to go on, even there they found the blessing of the Lord. They had their hearts set on pilgrimage, on their destination and no matter what they went through the journey was worth it.
So on our journeys we may have hills to climb, rivers to cross, ravines to negotiate, valleys to go through, are we going to rush through them, get them over with as quickly as possible or stop and make springs, stop and bless and be blessed along the way?
I am on my journey to the promised land, heavenward, will you join me on it?
If you are on that way and meet me there, slow me down, make me stop and smell the Daisy’s, remind me to take each day at a time and to enjoy the moment, to live in the moment and to find joy along the way. Remind me that life is a journey not a destination and that Jesus came to give us life, life in all its fullness, in all its abundance to be grasped, taken hold off, and enjoyed!
Finding God in the Everyday 