A number of years ago our family woke to what promised to be a great day, and an even better vacation. We had an easy flight from State College to Philly with just an hour lay-over there. Our flight from Philly to San Diego was direct. The morning went like clockwork; up with the alarm at 4:15 am, at the airport promptly at 5:00, on the commuter flight by 6:00 and taxing out exactly as scheduled. Knowing we’d soon be in the air and on our way toward a sunny afternoon at Mission Beach, we settled back to snooze as the small aircraft underwent routine de-icing before our departure. However, the de-icing that morning quickly became anything but routine and our early morning catnap was spent on the runway at University Park Airport, not in the air.
We had high hopes of being able to catch our connecting flight so upon arrival in Philadelphia we raced through concourse F, squeezed among the others on the tram headed for concourse A. As the tram crept its way through the snow and pathways of departing air craft, our hopes began to dwindle. We bolted off the tram and right through concourse A, huffing and puffing as we arrived at A-16 just moments after our plane had taxied away from the gate. The day that began with high hopes took a detour and quickly melted into a day of frustration and waiting. Waiting at gates, waiting on runways, waiting for flight crews, waiting for brakes to be fixed, waiting in long lines, waiting to hear about hotel and car rental reservations and finally, waiting for our luggage. Luggage that never showed up in San Diego, at least not with us. (All four suitcases "landed" on my sister’s front porch in the middle of the night while we were all suffering from jet lag.) The scheduled seven hour doorstep-to-doorstep trip became defined by frustration and waiting.
We deem waiting as a necessary evil in life. God doesn't seem to. When circumstances require us to wait, everything whittles down to one thing; our destination. The details that we view as hardships on the journey become secondary. How quickly we forget about the plane we missed and focus our attention on the plane we hope to board. Waiting helps us forget about the ice on the plane or the snow on the ground and presses us to focus on the sand at the beach or the sunshine in the sky. Waiting changes our perspective and renews our commitment to reach our destination.
Destination is powerful. In all things. The destination of a reconciled relationship. The destination of a child’s heart. The destination of character. The destination of a personal dream. Waiting clarifies the journey and helps us focus on the destination. Waiting slows us down. Gets our attention on the better thing. Waiting causes us to seek God's heart instead of His hand. To trust Him more than we trust our own reasoning.
Waiting seems like a necessary evil but waiting is actually, a necessary good. Rewind to the Jameson family spring break trip ... was it worth the wait on each airplane at each airport and in every terminal at every gate? At the time we weren't convinced. However, as the day wore on and our destination became our focus, it was. And then as the 80 degree ocean air greeted us in San Diego, there was no doubt that it was well worth the inconvenience of every second of our wait. Destination, it's a powerful thing.
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