Just like you, we’ve been on a long journey to get to where we are now. As Christians, we’ve read the Bible and prayed to God, to lead and direct our path. In our minds, however, being ambitious and focused, we want to hop on the fast train, the one that goes from A to B without even stopping at C along the way. We’ve wanted then to roll up our sleeves and get stuck into all God has called us to do, to run the race and grasp the prize!
Our God, however, had different plans for our journey. He’d specially prepared a bus, not just any bus, but the one that goes around the houses, picking up others along the way. Some hop on and after a brief rest, hop off again, getting back to their day. Some climb on carrying heavy baggage, then slump into a seat, staring into space, for the entire journey. Sometimes, someone sits with us for part of the journey and we strike up a conversation. We chat together, listening, as they share their journey, whilst we chug through the countryside and into the suburbs. The ride feels a little easier, lighter, as we talk together, our conversation as diverse and varied as the journey itself. Sometimes we stand and offer our seats to those less able than ourselves, whilst hanging on to the straps and feeling the force of every bend in the road.
Our bus shakes and rattles as it wends and grinds it’s way over hills and through dales, stopping to wait as school children are shepherded across the road, with the flash of a lollipop, into the school gates. It stops again, at roadworks, whilst a man in a high-vis vest waves a digger into the road, then back onto the verge again. It feels like we are running way behind schedule and yet we arrive at each stop at precisely the right moment.
CLICK, CLICK, CLICK… our bus is just pulling into a stop now! It’s been hailed by a lone individual, stood holding their bags, at the road-side. Will it be you that climbs aboard? Will you come and sit on the seat by me? I’m glad I didn’t just catch that ‘fast train’!
