Most of us have a pretty good idea of what we want out of life…our destinations are there, but how we get there is often a mystery. I felt that way recently when asked to read the sermon as our minister was away on holidays. I knew exactly why we were there in the church…to worship God but I was not exactly sure how that would be achieved. The hymns, the scripture, prayers and sermon were all there in my hand but it was the journey though them that had me a bit anxious…I told the congregation to just hang on and together we would do what we were there to do…to worship God.
In looking back through the years I see destinations that I missed and some I hit dead on…a great marriage, kids and grandchildren were well covered in my plans, but some things didn’t work out that well. Never did get my psychiatric nursing degree (a magic engagement ring changed all that), several planned businesses failed, Harry had a heart attack at 56 and cancer at 69. Not all were happy destinations.
I imagine if you spent a few minutes reviewing your trials and triumphs you could come up with a similar list.
This week my daughter and I left home for three special days in Edmonton. It had been six years since I had been “out of town”. I guess those twenty years in the travel business had taken the wanderlust out of me. I’m content to stay home and anyway I don’t like highway driving. But she did all the driving and although we strayed from the path several times we got to the hotel destination without too much anxiety. However, if a sign says ‘Anthony Hendy south‘ or ‘Anthony Hendy north’, it is a good idea to get on the right road or you will see parts of Edmonton you have never seen before.
One thing we did pass by was the Cross Cancer Clinic. For five years it had been such a part of our lives…some destinations you never want to return to.
We, as Christians have a destination all planned by our Lord. Yes, we wander off and sometimes we have terrible failures and grieve the Holy Spirit, but much like my taking the church service recently…scripture is there, example is there, love is there to guide you. You might mess up but God knows exactly where he wants us to go and He helps us get there, often in spite of our stubbornness and pride. “Oh what wondrous love is this” says a church hymn and I echo the refrain as He leads us back on the path to his planned and loving destination for us.
Photo by Ian McKenzie via Flickr/CC
