Are We There Yet?
Yes, we are there — in 2022! Side note: No one in this generation will be there to see it, but how cool it will be for those who are alive in 2222! But, I also like the sound of 2022. It came in like a breath of fresh air. And it was fresh air for us in Cabo when at midnight we were hugging and celebrating 2022’s awesomeness that awaits us.
The squares on our 2022 calendars are already being filled with a host of events, ceremonies, birthdays, anniversaries, little league sports games, school activities, and exciting opportunities for a new year of great conquests, victories, and adventures.
My son had many great restaurants, activities and places lined up for our family to go to while we’ve been here in Cabo. It took a mini-bus to hold all eleven of us. The familiar words that parents hear when they take road trips were heard in our group: “Are we there yet?”
That may be the language we’re already using this year when “it’s about time” for the quick fix or an on-the-spot answer to our prayers. I was amused when my son questioned the direction our bus driver was going (a driver that this wasn’t his first rodeo)! He kindly said “This is a short-cut!” And that’s how it is with God. Sometimes, it’s a short-cut to our destination and other times — it’s a roundabout way. But, more often than not, the how and the when God takes us isn’t near as important as trusting we’ll get there in His perfect way and timing.
I’ll admit it. Sometimes God’s Word doesn’t make a lick of sense to me (as we say in the South). “If you say to this mountain, be removed and do not doubt in your heart, it will be removed!” (Mark 11:20) Okay. I’ve got this! “Mountain be removed!” Nada; nothing; zilch! I’ll try this one! “All things are possible to those who believe.” (Mark 9:23). I AM believing! Nada; nothing, zilch! I stare at the words in my Bible and end up scratching my head with the end of my Bible highlighter.
I felt that way when I recently read this, “So God led the people by the roundabout way” (Exodus 13:18). This mind boggling little passage is about the Israelites leaving Egypt to go to their Promise Land. It’s before they messed up and God said they had to wander around for forty years. This is a whole different deal where God intentionally led them the roundabout way.
Have you felt that way? Did you have a lot of roundabouts in your 2021 year? I sure did, and I suspect that last year didn’t turn out the way many of us planned. There might have been some chaos and something unexpected happened. If so, let’s take heart. It doesn’t automatically mean that we’re not in God’s will. Often He leads us the roundabout way.
Why? Because His ways are not like ours. Because we think in minutes and He thinks “eternity”. We barely see a foot in front of us and He knows the whole story, the whole winding way that is going to get us where He wants us to go. It makes me sigh and laugh when He sometimes takes the slower, scenic route.
Maybe this year I’ll act less like the kid in the back seat asking “Are we there yet?” every two minutes. Maybe I’ll roll down the window and enjoy the view. Maybe I’ll remember that life is like a road trip. It’s about so much more than just getting there.
We don’t know what tomorrow holds — or this new year holds — but one thing we do know — HE KNOWS and HE holds our tomorrows and, better yet, He holds our hands and is with us through the straight and narrow AND the roundabouts.
Our future is so bright. Let’s purpose to wake each day to the prospects of what each day will hold by Him Who knows everything about everything — and with that kind of Trip Advisor, if we pay close attention, He’ll guide us into making 2022 to be our best, most blessed year EVER!