Location v. Destination

(BABY IM BACK & I’M SO EXCITED ABOUT IT!! lol anywho….)
I want you imagine that you’re heading to work (or school, or wherever you go for your daily activities). All is well, until…it isn’t. You run into terrible, TERRIBLE, Austin/Houston levels (that’s terrible squared) levels of traffic. Do you automatically decide that you’re never going to make it to work? Do you call in & quit because you believe that you will never make it through this section of the freeway? Do you turn around & go home? Most of y’all probably said no, and began to think that I was insane for thinking you’d quit your job because you hit traffic on the freeway. Why on earth would you do that, right? You may be late, but you’ll get there. You may have to reorganize some things, but you’ll get there. You may even have to exit the freeway and take a couple of back roads, but you’ll get there. Well, since we’re all in agreement that it’s senseless to quit your job due to traffic, why are we so ready to give up God’s promise when  storms come in our lives? I think I know the answer to that question: we confuse our location with our destination. 

I will never forget the day I moved back to my hometown. I had recently graduated from UT, packed up my student apartment, and was heading back home….like literally, to my mom’s house. Now, I am my mother’s child, so my inner independence…felt some type of way. I wanted to make my own way! I wanted to be my own woman! (insert every other foolish thing we say when we think we want to be grown lol) Additionally, I could’ve sworn I heard God say He’d make a way for me to not have to travel from my mom’s house to my law school. So I’m in my car, driving through some random Texas town, and I decide to chit chat with Jesus, since we’re all alone and stuff. I told Him that I was confused. Like…you’re a God of your word….and yeeeeet…I’m not seeing Your word, man. I don’t know if You’ve noticed, but I’m not heading to some fancy, shiny apartment. I’m heading to a room in my mom’s house. I love my mama (sidebar: HI MAMA! lol). I’m grateful that I have a place to go, because there are plenty of people who don’t have their mom’s house as an option. Hooooowwweeeever, this isn’t what I heard. Jesus kindly waited for me to finish my complaining, and in true Jesus fashion, responded to my monologue with one sentence: “your location is not your destination.”

I suddenly realized that what I was going through mirrored something greater. I was on 35, driving through Temple, but that didn’t mean that I would be stuck in Temple for the rest of my days. It meant that at 12:42 p.m. on that day, I was in Temple. I had two options: I could pull over, and set up shop in a place that I was only supposed to pass through, or I could keep driving, and head towards destiny. I essentially had those same two options when I moved back home: make that room my permanent place, or hold on to God’s word and prepare for the move. So what did I do? I switched gears from facts to faith. I realized that yes, I’m moving in with my mom, but God has something in Dallas for me. I may be there for a few weeks or a few months, but I wouldn’t be there permanently. It would be my location, but not my destination. It’s the holding place, not the promise. I also made sure that what I did matched up with what I said (because otherwise, I’m just talking to myself like I’m insane). I made sure that I had enough money in my account to cover a deposit, so that I’d be ready to pay it when the time came. I hadn’t signed a lease, or even settled on a place to apply, but I started searching for TVs, furniture, etc. so that I’d know how much those things would cost. Essentially, I prepared for the promise. It doesn’t make sense to consistently pray for something, and be shocked when it happens. So I stayed ready, because as we like to say in my family, when you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready. 
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Not satisfied with my lovely little life story? Let’s head to the Bible then. David’s story didn’t start when he defeated Goliath; it started when he was working with the sheep. Joseph (Old testament) would’ve never reached the palace if his brothers didn’t throw him in the ditch. Tired of the old testament already? Let’s go from 2-10 and go straight to Jesus. There would be no resurrection if there hadn’t been a cross. If any of them had accepted the cross, the pit, etc. as their final destination, we’d all be impacted. At the very least, Jesus had to come through David’s lineage in order to align with the scriptures as the messiah, and we all know that Christianity is based on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. If Jesus stayed in the grave, our hope, our peace, our victory, etc. would have stayed with Him. What’s my point? Our lives are full of low points. Storms will come, but they will also pass. Stressful times will surely come. There will be days that what you see is the complete antithesis of what God promised you. However, if you hold on, withstand the storm, and continue to press toward the promise, I guarantee that you’ll reach the promised destination. God can’t lie. It’s literally not in Him. The enemy will try to make you forfeit your victory, but you must never forget that it’s YOUR victory. It already belongs to you! It’s like going to the store to pick up a preordered dress, suit, etc.; it’s already been set aside for you, you just need to go get it. The day that you realize that you already hold the victory in this battle you’re fighting, you’ll change your fighting strategy. Why are you stressing over something you already have? Why are you, a winner, thinking like a fighter without a chance? Lift up your head, suga. The King of Glory is coming, and He wants lil ol me to let you know that regardless of the traffic, the storms, the trials, etc….your present location is not your destination.

Eyes haven’t seen and ears haven’t heard what He has for you. Keep pushing. Keep pressing. Keep moving forward. Don’t accept your current condition as an indication that God is not with you, that He doesn’t care, or that He’s changed His mind. All great things take time. This is not how your story ends. For the sake of your future, your destiny, and all that will be improved through your testimony, I need you to keep going. I need you to keep your faith, and to focus on the destination, not a temporary location. Keep. Moving. Forward. I would rather you take slow steps towards the promise than turn around and quit, especially when you’re so close! The way I see it, we’ve come this far, we may as well finish the journey, because, who quits their job because they got caught in traffic? 

Background Music: I Shall Live - Sharon Riley & Confidence - Tasha Cobbs

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