It has been a long tussle, hasn’t it? Month after month you have set your heart on this journey, and month after month something has risen up to block the way. You have felt like a man with his hand on the door-latch, ready to step out, only to find the door bolted again from the other side. That kind of repeated disappointment wears you down. It is not the size of the obstacle, it is the constant returning of it, like a nagging headwind that will not let your sails fill. And I do not wonder that it has been distressing; the soul grows faint with hope deferred.
But, my dear fellow-traveler, you are not the first one to find the way strangely hedged up. When the apostle Paul set his face toward Thessalonica, he tried once and again to get there, and yet he wrote, “Satan hindered us.” It is a startling thing to realize that the archenemy of souls sometimes busies himself with the journeyings of God’s people. Why, the very fact that the hindrance has been so persistent may be a backhanded tribute: your going forth must be something that the kingdom of darkness fears, something that will scatter blessing in your path, or else it would not be so fiercely contested. Do not, then, let the repeated blocks make you doubt your course; rather, be sure that the Lord will clear a road where no bulldozer of hell can stand.
And while we are speaking of hindrances, remember that the Lord’s delays are never His denials. You have been praying, and you have been trusting, and you have already seen enough to make you give thanks. That is a sweet thing: to sing before the full answer has arrived. It tells me your faith is alive, not a mere parrot-cry. The God who has heard you in part will not stop halfway. He keeps a file of every petition, and not one sigh is lost. Sometimes the answer tarries just long enough to let our roots go deeper, to let our earnestness grow hotter, to let us discover that we love the Giver more than the gift. But when the moment comes, the release will be swift and sure. I have often found that the very instant the heart is perfectly quieted and says, “Not my will, but Thine be done,” the cloud breaks and the sun pours through.
So then, as you prepare for this trip, go forward with a calm and settled confidence. You are not launching out into a void; you are stepping into a path already marked out by the One who holds the winds in His fists. The same Christ who once slept in the stern of a little boat on Galilee will be aboard your vessel. He may not keep all the billows down, some of them may splash over the side, but He will bring you to your desired haven. Let the stress fall away from your shoulders; you have a Father who manages the travel arrangements of His children far better than any earthly agent. The ticket, the weather, the timing, all are in His hand. And if some minor inconvenience should still pop up, it will only be a black-edged envelope containing a love letter you were not expecting.
Now, let us lift your trip up together and leave it in His keeping.
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Prayer
Lord Jesus, You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. You have watched over this dear soul for months, and You have caught every tear of frustration and turned it into a seed of future gladness. Now the hour draws near, and we ask You to make the path straight. Remove every obstacle, visible or invisible. Let there be no more hindrances, no sudden complications, no last-minute snarls, but a smooth, untroubled passage from start to finish. Send Your holy angels to clear the way, and let Your peace travel with them like a quiet companion, so that the trip may be not only successful but restful. May they know, beyond all reasoning, that You have gone before them, and may every mile traveled be a faith-strengthening reminder that You supply all our needs according to Your riches in glory by Christ Jesus. In His mighty name we ask it. Amen.
