I like to view life as a journey.We are either moving forward or backward along the path of life. Our final destination and home is the end of the course, when we pass from this life to the next. Many times the ups and downs make me think of a journey at sea. If you have ever charted coordinates, you know that being off by one degree can lead you miles from your destination. At times it is easy to feel lost on the Sea of Life. When you lose sight of your life's coordinates or plans and you feel you are staring into nothingness, you become discouraged. Then is the time to ask yourself whose coordinates you were following. Were the plans you followed your own or were they really part of the Captain's plan?
Readjusting is not a sign of failure. It is proof that you are serious about following the correct course. Yet often the problem is that we set our courses base on our own expectations instead of letting the Captain show us His perfect coordinates. At times we accept His coordinates, but then chart our own little course in between. Noone's course is the same, and by trying to arrive at another's destination, we often sail our way into disillusionment, disappointment, and the desire to desert. For some, two courses will intersect with anothers', and they,in the Captain's plan, sail on together to complete the course. Often for others the courses are soley for one.
The Apostle Paul reminds us that the end of the course is worth the struggle,the worry, the insecurity, the loneliness, and the weariness of the journey. It is not for the weak. Thankfully, there are three truths from the Captains Log, God's Word, that can encourage us along the way:
1. The strength to finish the course is not our own. (Philippians 4:13;2 Corinthians 12:9)
2. How we finished is as important as the journey itself. (2 Timothy 4:7)
3. Our success cannot and will not be based on the journeys of others. (2 Corinthians 10:12)
A successful journey is a finished journey, wether you finished single or married, wether you spend twenty years in the secular field or the mission field, or wether you saw five souls or fifty thousand souls saved along the way. When we finally meet the Captain at the end of our course, I believe we will hear questions similar to Paul's last words.
" Did you fight, did you finish, did you keep the faith?"
That, my friends, is a successful course.
That, my friends, is a successful course.
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