Front Parking Spot - Focus on the Journey

In every career there are challenges and complexities that not everyone can fully understand or comprehend. My daughter works as a surgical ICU nurse and so often I find that her reality at work is so different from mine. Responding during a code blue, administering CPR and saving lives with just the right dose of medicine is in her daily job description.  While walking in for her shift each day, she prays simply, “Lord let me be the answer to someone’s prayer.” She will never know the exact impact of this prayer but she does know that her job is to keep her patients alive and help them recover so that they may enjoy the next day of this journey in life. It is a completely different world than the one in which I live.

Many of us are not in the medical profession, so the gift of day to day living can be taken for granted. It becomes commonplace to rush life. We can sometimes dwell on thoughts like, “I can’t wait for…, and things will be better when…” I know at times, I can fall into this way of thinking, myself. How can we readjust our mindset to focus on the journey, rather than the end result?

If we fixate excessively on the finish line, we may miss the enjoyment of the journey that takes us there in the first place. How about enjoying the process of getting there? Here are a couple of ways:

First, ask God to help you be aware and see the daily revelations He has for you.  Don’t overlook the small, yet meaningful moments in life. Had the shepherds never taken the time to look up to the bright star in night sky when Jesus was born, they would have missed out on one of the greatest events of history.

Can’t wait to be done with something? Don’t rush to get there. Be present in each moment. Consider the experiences in life you may miss if you are just living for that future event or achievement. You know what you have in front of you now, but you don’t always know what will be. How much more awe inspiring would it have been for Peter if he had simply basked in the moment of seeing Jesus walk on water instead of being afraid of what would happen next?

Finding a typical day boring? Don’t be bored. Embrace the normal, routine days of life. These days are the building blocks for the plans that the Lord has for you. Can you imagine the conversations not recorded, that the disciples had with Jesus just walking from town to town? I can’t imagine the take-aways that Jesus gave them on a simple, casual walk down the road.

Listen for His direction in the quiet moments and don’t worry about the future. Isaiah 60:22 says, “When the time is right, I the Lord, will make it happen.” Trusting in His timing and fully relinquishing control of the future is truly liberating.

Try not to live just waiting for the next “big thing” in your life. Enjoy the journey of getting there. Then relish the moment when it happens. We never know when we may be the one in that hospital bed, as our tomorrow is uncertain. The next big thing in life could be meeting Jesus face to face. So, enjoy the here and now and the journey you are living here on this Earth. You will never get this day back, so embrace it for everything it has to offer.

Psalm 39:4-(NIV)“Show me Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.”