I hate traveling.
That’s not to say I hate going new places, seeing new things, and meeting new people. I actually really enjoy all of that. But I am a destination-oriented person, and traveling is often full of cramped cars, coach seats, gas-station or airplane bathrooms, and tiring hours listening to the maddening mechanical hum of whatever vehicle you’re traveling in.
Once you arrive, though, that is when you can begin enjoying what you came for, right?
The most brilliantly composed metaphor for the way I feel when traveling is captured by an episode of one of my favorite shows: Avatar: The Last Airbender. The episode begins with the main characters on their way to a particular city when they meet a group of hippie-like nomads who encourage them to take a less well-used route to their destination. Their side route allows them to avoid their enemies, but creates a few more obstacles. After some creative finagling, they all manage to get to where they were going with all of their limbs and brains intact, despite the physical bruises and bruises of ego that they gained in the process. Afterward, one of the nomads encourages a frustrated main character with this tidbit:
“I hope you learned a little something about not letting the plans get in the way of the journey.”1
This weekend, these words will ring especially true, because we will spend more than a full twenty-four hours traveling in order to celebrate two friends getting married. I have been planning aspects of this little trip for weeks. I even drew up a schedule for what tasks should be done on what days during the weeks leading up to the trip. I obsessively studied online maps along our route in order to know the locations of gas stations, auto repair shops, even emergency clinics. I made preparations for food, drinks, energy, sleep, and even printed images and directions for if our GPS breaks. I want to be prepared for everything and to know exactly what steps I will take to get to where we’re going, even if something catastrophic goes wrong.
A little overboard? Maybe. I prefer to call it better safe than sorry. I prepare so I don’t have to worry.
In light of all this, I sometimes find myself worrying anyway. I get frustrated when something doesn’t go according to plan.
Being married to a very adventurous man is twofold in its excitement- and terror-inducing qualities. The terrifying part rears its ugly head when my plans are surgically altered or removed. I have this illusion of control over my circumstances, this entitlement attitude that if I can prepare for this, everything will go exactly as I want it to.
Wrong. Few things ever go as I want them to, and far fewer actually go completely according to my prepared plan. So why do I still cling to this misconception?
“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord,“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
2 who set out to go down to Egypt,
without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.”2
The simple answer is that I am seeking refuge in myself rather than in God. God is the only perfect shelter, and yet we build our little leaky lean-to and sit under it while it rains, complaining to God that things aren’t going as we planned.
The reality is that I can’t change my circumstances, but I can change who I rely on.
Does this mean that I should just stop preparing for my travels, go in blindly, and ‘trust’ that God will take care of me? Not at all.
It does mean that I can prepare for and enjoy our trip regardless of the circumstances because I trust that God’s plan is the best one. This weekend especially, I will strive to put this into practice.
Happy Travels!
1Avatar: The Last Airbender, Season 1, Episode 2: “The Cave of the Two Lovers.”
2Isaiah 30:1–3 ESV