Recently, I had the amazing opportunity to see Alaska, the final frontier, in all of its majestic beauty. One day, we had the opportunity to travel the Denali Highway. So let me set this up for you as it is nothing you would imagine. It is a dirt road, 100 miles, rather narrow, through the beautiful untouched wilderness of Alaska.
Now, imagine this in a coach bus with 40 people!
As you can imagine, this road was rather desolate. This meant we had to have onboard spare equipment if something was to go wrong to fix the bus and potential lifesaving equipment. There were not many cars that passed us on this 100-mile stretch. The bus shook the whole time due to the unpaved road we were driving on. If this was my focus the whole time, this would have been a rather frustrating experience. (Not to mention the motion sickness potential.)
However, during this trip God told me to lift my eyes. He said I have a message for you. You see, I have been struggling recently with where God has me. I feel like I am missing the mark somehow, that I am not making the impact I could be. It feels as though I am in the wilderness. Do you feel that way too? He said, "look around, you are in the wilderness and behold the beauty in it all."
I lifted my eyes and saw the lush vegetation, the kettle ponds that provided water, all of the provision is in the land all around us. There were no people as far as the eye could see, no sign of settlement of any kind. When we got off the bus to take pictures, it was quiet, peaceful. There was no rush to this trip, just slow and steady. On this highway rushing would get us into trouble.
How many times is this us in life? We want results now, better yet, we want them yesterday or last week. God's timing is everything and it is perfect. How do we keep that in the forefront of our vision? How do we remember to appreciate the journey and to lift our eyes to the beauty and provision that is right before us rather than focusing on striving for the next great thing? What if the next great thing is right where we are because that is right where God is!
Lord, help us to be present in every season. Thank you for your love and provision that you give us each and every day, even when we don't see it. Thank you for your patience and understanding when we forget to appreciate right where you have us in the midst of the wilderness because you are there with us every step of the way. We wouldn't want it any other way! Amen
Laura
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