Do I Really Hate to Travel?

My wife said something to me the other day that I find appalling. She said that I hate to travel. Now if I wanted to believe this were true I'd not be so disturbed. But I believe myself to be an adventurous sort of person. I like the outdoors. Enjoy seeing as much of the world as I can afford (which I'll admit isn't that much) and enjoy imagining the great places I may get to go in the future.

But to a certain extent I do agree that in her assessment I probably do hate to travel. Because while I see the excitement with which I imagine the trip months ahead. I see the pictures in my mind of the great things we'll see, the fun things we'll do, the exotic things (or at least different from home) things we'll eat, and the sublime moments of quiet time enjoying beautiful scenes of God's creation; She sees the reality, the long drives in the car as I sit frustrated with the kids for the fourth potty stop in half as many hours. She sees the fear and loathing with which I pay just a little bit more for the hotel and mentally count the cost. She sees me cramming our stuff into the minivan declaring on oath that this will be the last time we leave home again. And ultimately she knows that the drive home will include the inevitable disappointed grousing about how those sublime moments enjoying God's glory never materialized.

So while I like the idea of travel, I may have to admit I may...perhaps.. actually...hate to travel.
The key difference is the degree of separation between imagination and reality. The trip I imagine looks nothing like the one I am actually on.

Does life ever look like this for you? Did that great job you imagined turn into just a job. That fairy tale marriage you pictured turn into something that is more about enduring than endearing. Does the adult life you pictured in your twenties still look not enough different than the life you had in your twenties except now you're too tired and busy to enjoy it. Does church seem less like the imagined picture of a comforting smiling family and more like...well, a real family.

The solution is found in Scripture and is built on dropping the idea that life is all about us. Much of what passes for religion today is about being fulfilled here and now. We are told that with sufficient faith and a positive attitude we can enjoy the finest things here and then even more in heaven. Yet Scripture gives us a different picture. One where fulfillment is found not in things from God, but in God himself.

Hebrews 11: 13 NIV says:
13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

In this chapter 11 of Hebrews, the "Hall of fame of faith," those who exemplified faith were said to have never seen the promises they hoped for yet they died believing, knowing that their fulfillment came in a far country prepared by God for them. In the meantime the heroes of faith lived lives of faith, trusting and worshiping God, trying to be obedient, making mistakes, seeking and finding forgiveness, and ultimately enduring to the end.

Having just finished Preaching on Revelation's first four Chapters, I am glad for the reminders Scripture gives us both of God's promises and the necessity of endurance. The reason I hate to travel and love the idea of it is that each time I travel it is like imagining that I am going to a better country than my own. Yet when I get there I am reminded that no destination will compare to the place of eternal life with God that I am really looking for.

Also the other reason I really do hate to travel is that there is so much effort involved. The packing ("Will I need a bathing suit or a parka...I'll take them both, you never know..."), the planning ("Can we fit in a stop here to see the world's largest freeze dried squirrel?"), the paying, the driving (It's only 2AM, Lets go on, maybe the next town will have a Better Hotel), and the eating out(Less often exotic, and more often the comfort food of the Cracker Barrel).

Yet the journey to our heavenly country involves the dropping of all effort and trusting in Jesus Christ. There is no packing since there is no stuff that can help you get there. How great when compared to cramming that one last item "we just might need" into the car. Not even clothing to wash and pack since we will receive the robe and crown promised. There is no paying, "Jesus Paid it All" as the song says, Dying on the cross for our sins, doing all that was possible or necessary to provide the forgiveness we need) There is no driving. Our works we do, we do to thank God, and out of love for Him and His people, not to earn our place in heaven. Even the meals are in fact "comfort food" when we Eat the bread and drink the cup and remember the way Jesus provided all we need for life together with God.

With Christ we know we will see that Country someday. Until then, while life can be as frustrating as a road trip (and indeed often far worse) We do get to close our eyes in prayer, or open them and read Scripture, or raise our hands and voices in worship, and imagine the Destination promised to us through Jesus Christ.

In Christ and on the Shepherd's Path,
Mark