The "Special Trip"

When it comes to ministry, the fantasy of efficiency can become an idol.  We prefer quick, easy, and painless over the alternatives.  But scripture portrays God's ways as being very different to our ideals.  We are sanctified by Jesus Christ and then we are called to embrace our sanctification for our entire lifetime.  It is natural for us to desire to speed up the process even as a small child wants to be an adult:  like they have their own reasons which sound strange or odd to us, I wonder if our reasons sound just as ridiculous before God.

In a bid to save time and energy, it is natural for us to consolidate our trips.  On our way home from work or church we might drop by the shops to buy milk so we don't need to make a "special trip" later.  Whilst we are at the shops we might also withdraw money from the ATM for a future purchase or return an item that has been sitting in our car for a week with the receipt.  Having to make a "special trip" (even when we don't have to go far and have ready transport) is often viewed by those who strive for efficiency as an inconvenience, a product of poor planning, a bummer to be avoided.

I wonder if our requests of God in prayer most often aim towards our ends of ease and consolidation.  We don't want to go through the trouble of doctors, specialists, or surgery:  heal us now God!  We don't want to see our children struggle and fail, nor do we want them to experience the consequences of personal sin, so we insert ourselves into their lives to relieve pressure.  We imagine how God could or should redeem an apparent difficulty or trial, figuring what better way could God use it than by changing hearts, bringing salvation, restoring broken hearts and families, or physical healing that lasts.  Isn't it strange we suggest such things to the Creator of all things, the One who established time and operates out of it, to God who already has an eternal plan for salvation whilst we obsess over a parking spot for lunch?

Though God is always working and redeeming situations beyond our comprehension, I believe He does have a thing for "special trips."  God could have created an earth without seasons, variations of temperature, or chaos--but He didn't.  He allowed people to have wilderness experiences, times of plenty and lack, to be strengthened and then die.  God sent Jesus Christ to come to earth as a human being and be crucified on a Roman cross.  We want quick and easy, but consider how costly was the payment for our atonement and salvation!  How patient God was in waiting thousands of years to fulfill His promise to fallen mankind to send a Saviour!  From the perspective of the flesh life by faith in God is a model of inefficiency and waste, but from the vantage point of faith in God it is an absolutely brilliant, perfect plan.

The next time you are annoyed about having to make a "special trip" or lament the inconvenience of life, consider the inconvenience of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It can be presented in a convenient way like an infomercial:  "All you need to do is..." but there is nothing convenient about it.  Jesus made a special trip to put on human flesh and for three decades grew up in a home in Nazareth.  He loved all but was rejected, hated, and betrayed.  He was righteous yet was beaten, scourged, and crucified.  Saving sinners was not a quick or easy fix, nor are there shortcuts to the ultimate glorification of God's redeemed.  Jesus was never in a rush or overwhelmed, and in Him we don't need to be either--even when we have to make a "special trip."