He lived “way out in the sticks.” Maybe it wasn’t exactly the end of the earth, but you could see it from there. Then he won an all-expenses-paid trip to New York by being the designated caller in a radio contest.

So he took his first ride on a jet. He landed at LaGuardia only to have a limousine waiting for him. He was still wide-eyed as it pulled up to the entrance of a posh hotel and people rushed to open doors, carry luggage, and otherwise tend to his needs. A bellhop said he would show him to his room.

That room was his first disappointment. It was nice, but it was smaller than he had envisioned for a penthouse. And it seemed he was going to have to share it, for two people were already there when he walked into it.

Sensing something wrong, the bellhop asked, “Is there a problem, sir?”

“I don’t mean to gripe,” he said. “I was just expecting a bigger room.”

“Oh, sir,” he replied, “your luxury suite is twenty-nine stories up. This is only the elevator that takes you there.”

What are you facing today? Cancer? Bankruptcy? Bad job? No job? Frustration? Anger? Alcoholism? Unhappy customers? No customers? Being single? Being married? Being a parent? Being a child?

Don’t think for a moment that today’s situation has to be the story of your life, the sum of your existence. The good, the bad, and the indifferent of today are mile-markers on your longer journey to eternity. The terrain over which you are traveling ought not be confused with its outcome.

“You won’t see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet!” Wrote Paul. “Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going” (2 Cor. 5:6-7, The Message).

If a lack of patience is a serious problem with you today, perhaps it’s because you have confused your pilgrimage with your destiny, the elevator with the penthouse. Hold on. Stay the course. You’re not there yet.

Rubel Shelly The FAX of Life