When You Finally Arrive

 

“Get in the car, mom, I want to take you somewhere special, but you can’t look.” This is what my daughter said on the way to my Mother’s Day surprise. She took me to one of my favorite restaurants and kept me blindfolded the entire way. During the 15 minutes it took to get to the restaurant, I kept wondering where in the world she could be taking me. “No peaking, we’re almost there.” She’d say, prodding me to remain blindfolded and not be too antsy. When we finally arrived, I removed the blindfold and was so grateful. I had been talking about how much I enjoyed the food at this restaurant, but it had been a while since the last time I was there for dinner. It was such a treat to be back there again.

I’m reminded that God desires our life’s journey to be like my Mother’s Day surprise. He wants it to be special and well worth the wait for the blessings He has in store. But sometimes we become anxious or impatient, and we allow these heavies to spoil the surprise.

None of us can control the outcomes in life, and when we start to feel as though we can or have to, we cease to rely on our faith in God. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, God has set us apart as His very own. He tells us in 2Corinthians 5:7 that we must walk by faith and not by sight. In other words, we are to surrender totally to Him, with the understanding that we can’t control anything outside ourselves. Romans 8:28 tells us that God is the One that causes all things to work together for the good of those that are called according to His purpose. He’s the One in control, and He requires us to trust this utterly and completely.

God told His people, the Israelites, in Isaiah 43:1-3(NLT):
1 But now, O Jacob, listen to the LORD who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. 2 When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. 3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom; I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place.”

Our Heavenly Father isn’t governed by a timeclock, thank goodness. His promises are built on His Word and the perfection of His being. He backs His Word with His name, because there is no greater name than His. There’s no person or thing in all of eternity that is above Him. Our faith in the reality of all that God is must be absolute. We can’t be wavering back and forth in our commitment to trust Him. James 1:8(NLT) tells us, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” This isn’t the mark of a child of God’s light. He doesn’t want us to be unstable in life. Galatians 5:1 says that He wants us standing firm in the liberty of Christ, never allowing anything or anyone to enslave us in bondage again. This is God’s heart toward us.

When things don’t happen when we expect them to, or our blessings seem to be delayed, often we become discouraged, and this discouragement can lead to doubt. We understand that there’s a prize at the end, but we don’t want to develop the endurance and patience it takes to receive it. We don’t want to cultivate the discipline of right believing that proves our faith in God. We just want Him to give us the goodies, regardless of the state of our mind and heart toward Heavenly Father. This isn’t going to work for us. Faith requires right believing. It’s not so much trusting in God to give us the goodies as it is trusting in who God is. He is the Giver of good and perfect gifts, and the timing of our blessings do not alter this reality.

Every experience we’ve had along the way helps us prepare for what God has in store for our lives. We should never give up if we’re not where we wanted to be when we wanted to be there. God is the One with the plan. He knows where we’re supposed to be, when we’re supposed to be there, and He knows exactly how to get us where we need to be. We can’t control the outcomes of life, but we can control how we respond to them. We can look forward to the journey with a fully persuaded faith in God, recognizing that when we finally arrive at His destination, the reward will always be better than we expect.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“When You Finally Arrive”,written for Christian Encouragement and Inspiration© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.