Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Long Trip

Our vacation is over! Two times zones, Ten states, Thirteen days, Twenty-Two hours of driving (one way) and Twenty-nine hundred miles! Whew, what a journey! I will not bore you with the photos or family stories. What I do want to share with you is one of many lessons I learned along the way.

There is a passage of scripture that I have read numerous times and never really quite got it. It is a simple passage but the more I think about it the more profound it becomes.
Matthew 18: 2, 3 - 2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Simple but profound! Here is what I learned about this passage while on vacation.

My wife and I have three kids - a 14 year old son, a 10 year old daughter and a 6 year old daughter. We loaded all of the kids into the car along with a ton of luggage, snacks, video games, videos and books. We had everything we needed for the trip. I mapped out our route, all 1200 miles of it there and all 1200 miles back - there was about 500 miles of visiting around once we got to our vacation destination equaling the 2900 miles we drove. I made sure the car was full of gas, I made sure the tires had air in them, I made sure I got the oil changed before I we left and I made sure we would find a place to stay on the way up and back. Not once did my kids have to worry about any of this, not once did they say "Dad, are we ok on gas?" or "Dad, how is the tire pressure?", never did they say "Dad, are you on the right road?" or "Dad, did we pack enough stuff for the trip?" They trusted me (and their mom) with everything. They were simply along for the ride and enjoying the whole experience.

As I thought about this it helped me get a better understanding of this verse and how we are to become like children. We have got to learn to trust God. He has it all under control. He has made sure we have plenty of gas, that the oil has been changed, and that the tire pressure is just right for our journey through life. We simply need to sit back and let him drive. Imagine how frustrating it would have been for me if my kids kept yelling from the back seat "Dad, are you sure you have enough gas!?", Dad, Are you sure you know where you are going!?", "Dad, how is the engine temperature!?" I sometimes wonder if that is what it sounds like to God when we ask him over and over about why Aunt Mary died or why sister Jane has cancer or why dad lost his job. Don't get me wrong, these are legitimate questions but do we believe God is in control or not?

The trust my kids had in me to get us to our final destination is the same type of trust we need to have in God that he will get us where we need to be. He knows what he is doing, he knows how to get us where he wants us.
Jeremiah 29: 11 - For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
We need to simply sit back and enjoy the ride.

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