Destination vs journey...

Most of the time our culture is focused more on the destination rather than on the journey, the numerical results rather than the process.

As I reflect on my time here in Guatemala I am constantly reminded of one of God's greatest lessons to me during the past several years even before Guatemala, one of leading. I have often questioned myself when I think God is pointing me in a certain direction and giving me a particular vision only to change it at the end. This comes up again as we change gears from Jordan. But I am comforted by these same lessons in the past like with Kids Alive. Had we not come to Guatemala with them I would have never gotten involved with eMi. I don't think I would have come to Guatemala to do engineering (I would have done a Jonah and run the other way). With each change in course I must trust God for his bigger vision. This does not necessarily mean a better destination either, getting back to my first point.

I have found that God is much more interested in who I am than what I do. This is fleshed out in: He is much more interested in WHO I am where I am and HOW I live there than He is interested in WHERE I am. He is much less interested in the destination than in developing my character along the way. He also uses a "leading" to one thing to get us going in a particular direction only because it is needed to get us going in a direction that can later be changed to a different place that we would have gone to in the first place. I hope that makes sense?!?

Bottom line is: I must follow God to the best of my ability and focus on that which God focuses, my character. It is my faith/character development that prepares me for the work God has for me to do in this life as well as in eternity. This is the only thing I can take with me. Whatever accomplishments, accolades, destinations I have achieved or reached are only by the grace of God anyway and really don't amount to much of anything. Although I always have to have a destination in mind, my focus must remain on the journey, not the destination.