So, I’m an off-and-on reader of My Utmost for His Highest. Overall, I SHOULD be only and ON reader of it, but, well… you know…
Today, Ozzy kicked me in the nuts.
I’ve always been a “journey guy”. You know, “the joy is in the journey” or “it’s the journey, not the destination”. I’ve been THAT guy. I’ve typically enjoyed the process of getting to the destination more than the destination itself. This probably plays into my being ENFP and ADAPTABLE. That said, when working on projects, I get the thrill of the project coming together, the pieces all fitting (hopefully) and making beauty out of chaos. It’s the MAKING part, not necessarily the BEAUTY part as the end goal.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love seeing the finished project. I love the “reveal” moment when someone sees the finished work for the first time. But, my mind goes to the journey when I look at a finished work. Not the finished work itself. Perhaps this is why I never became an artist. I would never complete a project. At least for (most of) what I work on, there is a pretty defined stopping point. And I shouldn’t say “at least”! I should say “fortunately”!
I don’t know where I went wrong. I’ve lost that journey part. I guess I’ve lost my joy altogether. I find myself seeing all the chaos in my life and rather than seeing the potential “joy in the journey”, all I see is chaos. My basement, the projects left undone, the people who need work done, my career, my family… shall I continue? Chaos.
Ozzy reminds me today that the joy IS in the journey.
What is my vision of God’s purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me. God is not working toward a particular finish— His purpose is the process itself.
Or better put, as Ozzy says, the joy, nay the purpose, is the process.
