November 1st, 2013
Luke 24:13-16 — And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
A year or so ago the wonderful school attached to our church selected “joy in the journey” for a theme. For some reason it popped into my mind when Myra was taking me to work the other day — and a bunch of attached ideas have followed it.
I think I’m being reminded that there’s only one destination that matters, and that everything else is the journey. All the things in life that seem like end points are really only waypoints — markers that might show direction, but really aren’t destinations.
Think of Cleopas and his companion, on the way to Emmaus. Did they know that they would have a very special fellow traveller? There’s no doubt that what happened in their journey changed their lives in a way that their arrival at Emmaus never could have done. Then there’s the eunuch from the court of Queen Candace, returning to Ethiopia. His visit to Jerusalem had, perhaps, been a little disappointing — he had not gained the spiritual certainty he was looking for, but the encounter with Philip on the road home brought him all he was looking for, and more!
It’s not always quite that dramatic though. A few years ago, Myra and I started a very special journey. We were called to serve a ministry we felt passionately about, and were excited to start raising our support so that we could take up our new life. Two years later, we were told that our fund-raising was going two slowly, and we were out. We were devastated. What happened? We never got to the destination. Now I’ll be honest — it still hurts. We are both still mystified about why the Lord started us down that path, but didn’t pull us through. But looking back, I cans see that God gave us some wonderful gifts along the way. We grew much closer. We gained some great friends. We learned a great deal about the lives and struggles of many people we talked with. Perhaps most valuable of all, we learned that our faith could stand up to massive disappointment. I have come to believe that sometimes God sets us on journeys rather than pointing us to destinations.
Of course we don’t always see the value of the journey. We don’t learn the lessons — not even in hindsight. Like all those Israelites. 40 years in the desert and they still didn’t get it. And that’s interesting to me. When it seems like life’s journey is long and hard, maybe it’s time to look around and see what the benefits are. Are you learning anything, strengthening any relationships, building any character? Rejoice. Take joy in the journey.