During my spiritual formation cohort we were shown the painting that Rembrandt painted of Matthew 8:24. The boat that Jesus and the disciples were in was caught in a bad storm. In case you don’t remember, Jesus was in the boat sleeping through the storm.
As I reflected on the passage in Matthew and looked at the picture – it spoke to me about my life. I thought about driving in the car with my wife, April. Whenever we would drive somewhere, I would grip the wheel tightly, actually white knuckling and drive. My goal was to get from point A to point B, safely and on time. As I’d be driving April would continually remind me: “Breathe.” I was so tense and determined – I was hardly breathing.
I realized that I was like the disciples rowing and rowing and rowing determined to get from point A to point B. The problem was in my focus to complete my journey. I missed the fact that Jesus was in the boat with me. It’s how I drove with April, row, row, row get to her mom’s on time, but sadly, missing the most important part of the drive. April was sitting next to me the entire time in the car. I wasn’t present. I was thinking about the future, arriving at point B. When the truth of this hit home, I apologized to April for all the years that we traveled somewhere together. Being so determined to complete the ride I had missed the journey and the connection that we could have had.
The Holy Spirit graciously pointed out that I often went through my days like that. Determined to get from point A to point B on my journey, I missed Jesus’s presence in my day. It was a sad thought. John Ortberg once asked Dallas Willard what did he need to do to be spiritually healthy? Dallas Willard’s reply was “ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”
When I hurry, I miss connecting with my wife, I miss seeing the eagle that was flying along the Fox River, I miss the amazing sunset, I miss Jesus.
It’s time for all of us to stop fretting about getting from point A to point B and start enjoying the journey.
