The Highway to Fulfillment

Last week I was in the Toronto area driving on the 401. Traffic was exceptionally heavy and was moving forward intermittently with long pauses in between. Thank God for the Garmin we were using. It was so helpful, not only with navigation, but also with estimating how long it would be before we arrived somewhere.

The Garmin, however, did not foresee the jammed traffic throughout Toronto's downtown and the 401. The Garmin expected us to be driving at posted speeds and would estimate our arrival based on that. When we traveled at way less than posted speeds the device would push back our estimated arrival accordingly. And then push it back again. And again.

After an hour or so of barely moving our 18 minute drive was feeling like Gilligan's three hour tour. We tried alternative routes. The Garmin changed accordingly and kept showing new ways for us to get to our destination. Good ol Garmin never gave up. We never received the "pull over and weep in your failure" instruction I was expecting.

We eventually got to our destination. It took 6 or 7 times longer than was originally anticipated. I am thankful for a few things:
* we never assumed there was no destination just because it was difficult getting to it
* the Garmin didn't care how many weird and wrong turns we made - it kept seeking the consummation of the journey.
* The fact that a wrong turn (or many wrong turns) does not mean that a journey is futile.



The road to fulfillment of God's promises feels much the same to me as the seemingly never-ending day on the 401. I feel like I have some destinations plugged into my life GPS by God, but getting there has not happened on the time table I expected. When my estimated time of arrival on God's promises keeps getting delayed I often feel pangs of discouragement. I am going to get to my destination as long as I don't get discouraged by traffic, wrong turns, and construction delays along the way.


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