Are We There Yet?
ARE WE THERE YET?
By Paul Cowell
Have you ever reached what you thought was a destination only to find it was just a rest stop? You had been going in the right direction, but the final destination was farther on.
Sometimes, even after seeking guidance, I thought I knew exactly where I was going only to “arrive” at the place and realize that the journey was not over. Maybe if I had known how far away the destination was I would have been discouraged and quit—or not even started. God does not deceive us, but if we are going in the right direction, He may not reveal the total duration of the journey.
An excellent illustration of this is found in astronomy. The middle star in the handle of the big dipper is Mizar. Behind Mizar about 18 trillion miles farther away from Earth is another star named Alcor. Mizar is a 2nd magnitude star in brightness, but Alcor is a 4th magnitude star. Ancient civilizations checked children’s eyesight with this apparent binary system—asking “Do you see one or two stars?” Even regular binoculars will resolve the two stars today though with the naked eye they appear as one.
If you wanted to go to ‘light’ you could travel to Mizar. But when you got there you would see that Alcor was much brighter and would be the greater source of light.
When I have gotten to my “Mizars” in life, I have sometimes complained to God that I thought this was the destination. Now I have farther to go to really reach the ‘light’. He seems to whisper, “You’ve been going in the right direction. Maybe your ‘Alcor’ would have seemed too far; however, you have come this far and now you can see the brighter light. The hardest part of the journey is behind you. I’ll be with you the rest of the way.”
Galatians 6:9 (The Message) “I will not get discouraged or give up because around the corner is God’s blessing—the Harvest!”
Don’t quit! You might have been going in the right direction but to an intermediate destination. The ‘light’ at your ‘Alcor’ is far greater than you could see when you started. Keep going! The Harvest is going to be even bigger than you imagined. It will just take a little longer than you thought!
