The final destination...

        Picture it. You are on a road headed to some specific place or other. You may have an idea of where you are headed but to get there you have to follow this road. The road may be nice and smooth or it may be rough and bumpy. It may even be a like a nature trail with a lot of brush and undergrowth, leaves, fallen branches from trees overhead, and indiscernible creatures that you can only just hear but can’t quite see. Whatever the state of the road you are on keep this in mind: the destination is still at the END of the road, it is NOT the road itself.
         Now why would I say that? It came to me that many times we probably mix up the road with the destination itself. Think about it. The destination is still at the end of the road, it is not the road itself. The road may be rocky, stony, hilly, filled with brush and undergrowth to trip you up but it is just the road you have to use to take you to your final destination. Don’t get them mixed up. Don’t stop on the road when you are supposed to be stopping at your destination. 
          The wilderness was the road to Israel’s destination – the Promised Land. Only a few made it. Too many got distracted on the way there. They got distracted by the road itself with its challenges. They lost sight of their final destination and so never made it. They even lost interest in God’s promise to them. They didn’t care for the Promised Land anymore because they became so focused on the path they were on and the challenges they faced there. They had no clue what their final destination looked like but they could see the road they were on and that became their focus. 
          Your destination is your purpose. The road on the way there may contain obstacles that will try to stop you from reaching your destination, your purpose. Don’t ever stop before reaching the purpose God has ordained for you! When we take our eyes off the destination, off the purpose ahead of us, it can be so easy to focus on the road we are on with its challenges, distresses, struggles. God never promised that the road would be an easy one but He did promise to never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:8). As we choose instead to fix our eyes on the One who is guiding us, we can expect Him to lead us safely through every pothole, every obstacle, every challenge on the way. He can see our final destination even when we can’t. He won’t take us to a place to destroy us or harm us. We can trust that His purpose for us is a good one, an excellent one because His thoughts toward us are for good not for evil (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV). 
         I can think of another example. David was on his way to the throne. He had been chosen and anointed by God to be the king of Israel but it was a long and difficult road to fulfilling his purpose. He was chased relentlessly by king Saul and probably wondered at times if he would survive. When king Saul finally died, David became king but only of his tribe Judah. It took him seven years to finally become king over all of Israel (2 Samuel 2:4; 5:1-5). He didn’t stop on the road to his purpose, he made it all the way to the end of his destination – king over all of Israel. Even years before that while on the run from Saul, he met a cruel, rich man, Nabal, and was treated so shamefully that he almost killed him and all the males in his household. Thankfully, Nabal’s wife Abigail, reminded David that he had a purpose to achieve and he did not do to her husband as he had planned. God instead stepped in and avenged him (1 Samuel 25:2-39). 
          Don’t stop until you reach your destination. Sometimes, God will even send people to remind us that we have a purpose and to encourage us along the way, to encourage us not to give up, to keep going, to stay on the road instead of coming off of it; to not give up on the hope that lies ahead, to not lose sight of what God has ordained for us to achieve. Sometimes we may even come off of the road but He will send encouragement to get us back on track. 
          Maybe you are off track today. The road has been so tough that you don’t care anymore for the good you know God has ordained for you at the end of this path. I am here to encourage you to not give up, keep going, get back on track; it may be painful, it may seem impossible, you may not feel as if it is worth it. But if God is calling you to it, He will get you there!!! He WILL fulfil His purpose for you. He never expected you to do it alone so STOP trying to achieve it on your own. God is there, on the road with you, carrying you, sustaining you more than you may feel or realize. So, when you can’t see your final destination at the end of the road, fix your eyes instead on the One who CAN see it and who is leading you there. And whatever you do, don’t stop on the road, keep going until you reach your destination!
          If you have not asked Jesus Christ to come into your life, I encourage you to do so now. The road we are on is already a tough one and we need all the help we can get. Give God a chance today to get you to that destination, to that purpose that He has planned and ordained for you. Once He has called you to it, He will get you there!!!

---