Journey or Destination?

"The angel of God appeared to him in flames of fire blazing out of the middle of the bush. He looked. The bush was blazing away but it didn't burn up. Moses said, 'What's going on here? I can't believe this! Amazing! Why doesn't the bush burn up?' God saw that he had stopped to look. God called to him from out of the bush, 'Moses! Moses!' He said, 'Yes? I'm right here!' God said, 'Don't come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet. You're standing on holy ground.' Then he said, 'I am the God of your father: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.' Moses hid his face, afraid to look at God." Exodus 3.2-6 (MSG)

As a kid I always loved getting to where we were going. As a father, I now know why my dad never wanted to stop and see the snow in Kentucky when we were going further north, "And there will be snow in Columbus." I want to get there and get there quickly. I don't want to mess around with the details of the journey. I want to get there as soon as possible, with as few stops and detours as possible.

Ever felt this way? Hurry up and get there? I want to have arrived.

It makes me think about a guy named Moses who had a taken a lot of steps with God. I'm sure that when he was tending the sheep of his father-in-law on the back side of nowhere he was thinking, "How did I get here? Where did I go wrong?" He was raised in the palace of the Pharaoh. He was destined for greatness. He had a good heart toward his people, the Israelites. But something happened that caused him to end up in the middle of nowhere.

His journey didn't begin at the burning bush with God, but rather at his birth. But the burning bush is where we see that he finally acknowledges God on the journey. The steps that Moses took toward God were humble, tentative, fearful. He removed his sandals in the presence of God. He removed the hindrances and blockages between his feet and his Master. He showed reverence for the holiness of God.

Walking with God requires both a familiarity and a reverence. It requires humility and boldness - curiosity and fear.

What is the destination? Where are when we have finally arrived? Heaven. And the whole point of Heaven is God. So the journey is the destination. God is the point of this journey. The beautiful thing is that we have Him with us every day. I am reminded this season of His name, Emmanuel - God WITH us. We miss Him so many times. We get wrapped up in our plans and the final destination of arriving that we miss the whole point - walking with God.

Take some time today to just walk with God. Get outside, enjoy the cool air or the warm sunshine, and walk with God. Take some time and tell Him that you are sorry for allowing your priorities to get so messed up. Make time today to be with God. Remove the sandals from your feet and the hindrances from heart so that you can hear God talk with you.