One of my favorite parts of the day is right after I drop my little man off at school. Not because I’m relieved he’s gone, although there are days the battle of getting out of bed and finding shoes meets a welcomed end in the drop off line. No, it’s a quiet time when I take the long way home, drive up the hill behind the school and enjoy this gorgeous view of the sun coming up over the mountains. I sip my fat-burning coffee and take just a moment, a very brief moment if cars are behind me, to take it all in. Sometimes, I snap a picture. sometimes, I roll down the window and breathe in the fresh air. Sometimes, I just give a quick glace. But every time I pause to thank my Father for his creation.
The long way brings pause and reflection. It brings peace and a new hope for what lies ahead each day.
I love taking the long way home.
At least, in this instance I do. But friends, let me tell you, there have been some long ways home in my life, I’d rather not have traveled.
When Dan was in the Army, deployment years brought a long way I prayed we’d never have to travel again. Those years apart were stressful and draining, not only emotionally but on our relationship as well.
Going through a marriage help program several years ago was a long long road that had us both looking for exit signs. And we still find, at times, we take the long way to a resolution in conflict rather than getting straight to the source of our struggle.
Walking through the valley of postpartum anxiety disorder was a long dark way home that I never wanted to travel. I prayed constantly for a shortcut; a shorter path to healing but that isn’t what happened. As I look back now, I can see it was a long way but a necessary way.
That’s the peculiar thing about long ways; Once traveled, you realize the value in them. Long ways are arduous and painful but they lead to the most brilliant views of perspective and truth.
Perhaps you find yourself traveling a long way home today. Maybe it’s a long way in your career path or in navigating your finances. It could be a long way in caring for an aging parent or a loved one dealing with an illness. Maybe your long way has been a lifetime of physical illness and pain in your own body. Perhaps you find yourself in the middle of a long way raising a child with special needs or an adoption process that’s taking longer than you ever expected. Maybe your long way is in healing from past hurts that shattered your heart and wrecked your mind.
Friends, whatever long way you’re traveling today, may I urge you to stop looking for short cuts and exit signs and look instead to the author and finisher of your faith. The one who promised to never leave you nor forsake you. The one who is holding your hand and guiding your steps, even carrying you along this long road home.
Oh sweet friends, I know you can’t see Him and at times He feels so far away! But I promise you what He’s allowed has purpose, if you’ll travel this long road in trusting dependence on Him.
For your next breath, for your next step, when the path stretches too far ahead to see the end and you know you can’t make it on your own;
Fix your eyes on Him.
“I look up to the mountains;
does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
He won’t let you stumble,
your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.” Psalm 121:1-3 MSG
The view at the end of the long way home is worth the trip, but the fruit that’s grown in you along the way is priceless.
Perseverance is priceless.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4 NIV
Trust the process, my friend. Take the long way home.