Normally

Reading: Deuteronomy 1-2; Mark 12 2 Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-barnea, going by way of Mount Seir. 3 But forty years after the Israelites left Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses addressed the people of Israel, telling them everything the Lord had commanded him to say. (Deuteronomy 1:2-3 NLT) “Normally it takes only eleven days, but forty years later we’re still on the road!” I thought about titling this devotional “Are We There Yet?” Here’s some random thoughts about this reminder from Moses to the next generation:
• Let’s go on a Road Trip!
• Welcome to Google Maps. Most direct or scenic route?
• Without the wilderness journey, there wouldn’t have been any manna!
• For an entire generation of Israelites, the wilderness was the destination.
• With God, it’s as much about the journey as the destination. I’ve been on my journey from Egypt to the Promised Land for even longer than it took Moses and the Israelites to make the trip. I know there are a lot of things I’ve experienced and learned in my journey that have taken far longer than they should have. Most of the time I’m like the kids in the back seat asking, “Are we there yet?” Here’s something that has become a sort of comforting thought to me: “Normally” has very little to do with God’s plan for my life! God is so much more concerned with what is happening in me, in my heart and mind, in my attitudes and values, in my day-to-day speech and behavior, that he can do his work equally well on a 40-year trek as on an eleven-day express trip. In my humanity, I’m constantly oriented toward reaching the destination: How far did we go today? Can we go faster? How much farther is it? Is there a shorter, quicker, easier (especially easier!) route? In God’s gracious wisdom, he’s constantly orienting me toward living well today – each day – and living and loving more like Jesus. Prayer: Father, Today I again relinquish the steering wheel to you. You choose the route, you determine the stops along the way, you decide if we’re there yet. I’ll try to sit back and live the moment and enjoy the scenery. Amen. (Are we there yet?)