The Perfect Destination
Photo by Tamas Tuzes-Katai on Unsplash
It’s now been 9 months living in Sydney, and unfortunately we are having to move. We had planned to live in this house for a good couple of years, thinking that the next home might be the one we buy. But unfortunately, the combination of an old house and unpredictable weather, sealed our fate.
So we are back to packing boxes and butcher paper. While I have been slowly chipping away at all these tasks, I noticed this recurring statement appearing in my thoughts: “Once we move house, that___will be all worked out”. Whether its routine or washing clothes, I keep subconsciously assuming that this move will resolve every problem I have ever had. It is true, moving house is one of the best times to begin a new habit. But my subconscious expectations must be awfully high if I think it’s going to fix every problem I have.
This really isn’t the first time I have put all my hopes in one thing. I’ve put my hopes in it all:
A New job
A different role
Losing weight
Upgrading home appliances
Finding the one
More money
And I think I’m not alone in doing this. I think most of us have a tendency to think that some THING could fix everything. If we could just arrive at that place, that preferred place, everything would sort itself out.
I am probably most like that with my calling. Like most of us, I have been waiting for a few breakthroughs to happen. I look around and see so many people doing the things I hope to soon, with little effort to have arrived there (or so it would seem). If I could just get there, then I would finally be satisfied.
The other day, the waiting really got to me. As it does from time to time. While praying, I heard the Lord say this:
“There is no perfect destination”
It’s not what I wanted to hear at the time, but I couldn’t deny its truth. There is no goal or life situation that you could arrive at that ceases life’s problems. There will just be different problems to deal with. Its the reason we know that having children won’t fix a marriage…
Now that’s not to say that we won’t experience joy at our destination. Of course we do! But why do we presume that we can’t experience the same joy now? Do we only recognise God’s faithfulness when the job is done? Or do we acknowledge His faithfulness along the way? Is God’s accomplishment of His promises the only validation of His faithfulness? Of course not!
The fact is, the destination is not what changes us. The journey does. The journey prepares us for the joys and the disappointments of the destination. But the journey also prepares us for the journey…Because the journey doesn’t stop at the destination. The journey stops when we leave this earth and discover the the greatest destination was always the one that finally unites us with God.