To Reach My Destination: Victory Series, Part 49
On any trip we undertake, no
matter how exciting or exotic, there comes a time when we begin to long for
home. I faced this while in Switzerland, of all places!
However arriving back home can't be simply done by thought, like in the old
sit-com "Bewitched", nor can we say: "Forget about paying for this hotel room!
Forget about returning this rental car! I'm taking the first plane home!" It
just doesn't work that way! There is a process we need to go through.
Besides paying what is due (which will most certainly help to avoid unnecessary
delays at the airport!), we need to return our rental car and we must register
our luggage. Please note that if you skip this particular step, your luggage
will not follow you home, and may even be blown up for security reasons. (They
actually do this at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris!)
Next we need to verify that we are heading for the right gate, otherwise we will
hear it from the security guards. Our carry-ons as well as our whole persona and
our passports will be checked, rechecked and tripled checked, and if we are the
lucky one, we will also be frisked. You never know that some of us may have
changed personalities or that we may have somehow picked up the wrong carry-on!
Only when our tickets are stamped and our passports are rechecked for the
umpteenth time can we finally board the plane. After take-off we are heading
home. Unless, naturally, we have someone on board who has gotten up on the wrong
side of bed and threatens us to kingdom come! But then, if it actually happen,
we will be heading to our real home in heaven anyway!
Deliverance from a nasty addiction is a process as well. For some faster than
others.
"Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God
isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ
experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just
around the corner." (1 Peter 4:12-13 The Message)
However the process is much more delightful than security measures at the
airport! We have the presence of our Maker who makes sure we are not alone in
this!
Interestingly enough, just like salvation, deliverance cannot be obtained
through our own doing! It's not a question of what we do or what we don't do,
but a decision to trust the One who makes sure we are not alone in this process!
"Did you go through this whole painful learning process for
nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this
up! Answer this question: Does the God who lavishly provides you with
his own presence, his Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you
could never do for yourselves, does he do these things because of your strenuous
moral striving or because you trust him to do them in you?"
(Gal 3:4-6 The Message)
As long as we keep in mind that there is one out there who is out to destroy
us through his lies (See John 8:44) and trust the One
who promises victory, we will stay on trek to victory.
"Welcome aboard flight Victory. The pilot has invited you to fly with him in the
cockpit. He wants to make sure you have the flight of your life!"
Rob Chaffart