The Lord is in the Journey

“Journeying is an art,” the Pope replied, “because if we’re always in a hurry, we get tired and don’t arrive at our journey’s goal. If we stop, if we don’t go forward then we miss the goal. Journeying is precisely the art of looking toward the horizon, thinking where I want to go but also enduring the fatigue of the journey, which is sometimes difficult.” – Pope Francis

Pope Francis nailed it on the head. Fr. Dave said in a homily, “we are not human doings. We are human beings”. I used to think that being busy was a sign of productivity, growth, and success. But it means nothing if we do not take the time out to just be with the Lord.

I used to think that in times of suffering, hardship and trial, that the Lord is really preparing something great for me. And it’s true. But now I know that the Lord is IN the suffering, IN the hardship and IN the trial. The Lord isn’t just waiting for us on the other side of the man-made or God-allowing challenge. He’s with us in the journey. Emmanuel. God with us. He comes to us. He meets us where we are. He runs towards us, embraces us and carries us. The Lord is also IN the victory and IN the blessing, He doesn’t just give us things. He gives us Himself. He is not just the reward at the end of the journey. He is also in the journey.

At the end of the day, there’s really no reason to be unhappy. The Lord is always with us. The Lord was, is and is to come. He knows that we’re going to get tired and forget what lies ahead in our journey. So He comes to us where we are. He knows that we’re not going to acknowledge Him being with us at this very moment. So He gives us hope. And when we forget what lies ahead and can’t seem to acknowledge Him in the present, He reminds us of what He’s done for us in the past.

Now that’s something.