Life is a journey and like any other journey we might take. There will be wonderful experiences and some that are not so wonderful. In our years of traveling as a professional music ministry, we had a vast variety of great experiences. We were able to see the magnificent Smoky Mountains, the Canadian Rockies, Yosemite National Park, Thousand Isles, Alaska, and the beaches of the Pacific, Gulf, and Atlantic Oceans. These were wonderful experiences that we will never forget.

There was one thing necessary to see these amazing things and that was traveling to get there. We didn’t snap our fingers or twitch our noses and suddenly they appeared. There was a necessary journey that we had to make to enjoy these sites. Many times we had to travel through storms or be held up for hours in traffic jams. On one occasion we were stranded on an exit in an ice storm for three days. We traveled through death valley in almost 120 degree heat that overpowered our air conditioning.

The journey of life is just like that. There are some wonderful things we will experience, but before we do, we many times will go through storms to get there. When we are in the middle of these trying times, it’s not pleasant but we can choose to ease the pain. When Jesus was leaving His disciples and returning to the Father, He told them in Matthew 28:19-20; “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

They were being instructed to take a journey, but they were also being encouraged that they would not be taking that journey alone. The very Son of God would be going through the storms and difficulties with them.

Whereever we go, whatever we do, Jesus will be with us if we choose to allow Him. Life will always have its ups and downs, but you can be encouraged to keep your eyes on the wonderful experiences that this journey of life will bring us to.

These are the truths that we address at the Gathering Place every Wednesday evening at 7 and Sunday morning at 9:30 and 10:00. Come and join us.