I have been wanting to write more on the subject of Moses and reaching our own personal promised land. And this discussion seems to keep coming up about the condition of one’s life. Which I find somewhat amusing for several reasons. I think we view our lives in a very interesting light. I mean, do we look at our lives and think we have had a rough go of it, and other people have it easy? Someone said to me this week, ‘Some people get happy endings, and other people don’t.’
It sounds like a very jaded response to me. I personally want to know, well what happens after the happy ending? I mean what about the day after that – which is why I so enjoyed the musical ‘Into The Woods’ which examines this very question.
I personally believe that this journey is very similar to many experiences which biblical characters had. Well Job for one. His life was pristine and perfect, and everything came crashing down, and at the end of it God added to his life in abundance. But how many of us have had the same experiences as he did?
And this is how I view my journey. There are things which occur which are uncomfortable, even painful and traumatic…but if you view your journey as being this voyage onto your own promised land then you tend to view it in an entirely different light.
What about Abraham’s journey? What prevented his journey. his father did. He hesitated, and the journey delayed. He had this amazing promise about his descendants, and yet he had a barren wife, and then to top it off, after he tried doing it his way instead of God’s way, then God finally gives him a son and he is told to slay the boy.
I mean, pick whichever character you want to, and their journeys were not easy by any stretch of the imagination. So where do we get this idea that our lives should be some easy street, little breeze on a hot summer day type of existence?
There are things which I would like to know about my journey to my own personal promised land. Yeah, I would like to know who is coming with me – but I don’t really need to know about that. I would like to know the exact co-ordinates to get there. But guess what, I don’t need to know that either. And I would also like to know, what is the plan once I get there…but guess again, I also dont need to know that.
I want God to change my worldview, and I think on many counts he already has changed it. Because I don’t view my life as some negative connotation, it is more like a life of flexibility. Ok. So how can I even begin to compare my life of AF and Y to your life which I THINK is a life of XY and Z when it actually is not even remotely like that at all.
I like what Janna La France says about the journey, ‘I think the Christian life involves the constant unknown, the breathless expectancy, and the ever-increasing awareness that things are not as they seem!’
I do believe that we need to seek out what it is we believe about our own personal journeys, and why we believe that to begin with. I know one thing for sure, this journey is not boring by any stretch of the imagination. And my walk, my journey is very much like an amusement park ride. It can be scary, and thrilling, and all encompassing…and we are holding on for dear life at times. But you know, I still believe that there is something to how we approach our journey.
Do we embrace this journey, or do we hold it at arms length feeling hesitant about the whole thing?
‘Into the woods, It’s time to go,
I hate to leave, I have to, though.
Into the woods – It’s time,
and so I must begin my journey.’
Into The Woods
