In the Pixar movie, “Cars”, a selfish race car (Lightning McQueen) learns to become selfless by movie’s end. A secondary story arc “drives” home another interesting theme. Highways, with their direct routes, multiple lanes, and higher speed limits can get us there quicker. However, we miss the life lessons, rich history, and amazing experiences we would receive if we took the winding road with all of its bumps, twists and turns.
Many times in my career and ministry I have wished for the highway to get me quickly to the God-sized goals I feel I’ve been called to, but the reality is that God has a purpose for the journey. Every “over night” success is 20 years in the making, and there is a purpose for the preparation.
God prepared Moses for 40 years before using him to free the Hebrews from Egypt. When God knocked the Apostle Paul off of his horse, Paul went to Arabia and Damascus for 3 years before going to Jerusalem to meet the other Apostles. Like a diamond in the rough, we need to have the impurities and ugly parts chipped off (personally and vocationally speaking) in order for God to use us at our greatest potential. So, there is purpose in the preparation.
Last year at a conference I heard a speaker make this statement (and it has stuck with me since). “God is a covenant-keeping God. He is not a man that He should lie. You must endure the pain of the process while you wait for the fulfillment of the promise!” I still get goose-bumps when I repeat those words!
Don’t look for the short cut today. Instead, do the hard work that’s necessary and look for God’s purpose IN the journey!
