Remember those long roadtrips back before cars had DVD players?  Remember being crammed together, five kids in the back seat, before seatbelts were even a thought?  Remember the dreaded question:

"Are we there yet?"

 

Ok, I may be dating myself a bit, but I remember those days.  My family was famous for the 42-hour, non-stop marathons to Granny and Popper's house.  Some people like to stop and enjoy the sites along the way, but not us.  We stopped only for gas - use the bathroom then! - and ate sandwiches on the road.  I can laugh now, but at the time it was anything but fun for a kid.

 

There seem to be a lot of people right now in the Body of Christ who are so intent on the "getting there" that the trip is drained of all its fun possibilities.  The work of the ministry has become more of a job than a passion.

 

I will quickly admit that I have my eyes intently set on the finish line and so can get a little tunnel vision at times.  But I am also learning more and more that it is the moment by moment details of the day that breathe life into the journey.

 

Solomon's famous words in Ecclesiastes 3 remind us that there is a season for everything under heaven.  There is a time to be born and a time to die.  There is a time to weep and a time to laugh.  And I believe there is also a time to be focused and serious, and a time to rest and enjoy the simple pleasures that become brilliant with the Light of God on them.

 

Yes, we are in the midst of the greatest time in history, spiritually speaking.  The slumbering Bride is waking and wiping the sleep from her eyes.  She is filling her lamp with oil and preparing herself for a war of love.  There is no time to waste and this is no time to be frivolous with our lives or frugal with His glory.  But this race is not down a dirt path with cardboard trees.  It is in a Kingdom of splendor and majesty, the details of which our Creator longs for us to see and enjoy.

 

When was the last time you ran through a puddle and laughed as the light made rainbows bounce around you? 

 

Did you notice the last time you ate an orange the way it makes your tongue tingle but ends with a little bit of sweetness?

 

Do you see the way the birds lift on the winds almost effortlessly, but then zig-zig as the current seems to move them where they didn't expect?

 

Why not go for a walk down that path that you've noticed a hundred times but were to busy to explore?

 

Why not just sit down and read that book or have a cup of hot chocolate in the middle of the routine?

 

Our Father is one Who longs for us to enjoy this journey as much as He longs for us to finish the race set before us.  Find the treasures that He has strategically placed along the way just to see you smile, and you will bring great joy to Him.