I have often joked, albeit half-seriously, about how we view God as the Great Vending Machine in the Sky. Drop a prayer in the slot, and a solution appears.
My friend, Jon Swanson, wrote recently, “More and more, I try to talk with Jesus about process rather than outcomes. He already knows what I want, anyway. I think he cares most about the journey and how I travel. I suspect a sense of peace happens when I do what I can with what I have – and trust him for the outcome.”
I like the image of Jesus along for the journey. I’ve been leading small grief support groups for the past 18 months or so. As we discuss the varieties of grief experience, we discover this is not a one time event. It’s a journey that includes different stops along the way.
You may have noticed that your spiritual journey has a similar rhythm of starts and detours and stops and insight followed by being lost.
Richard J. Foster and Dallas Willard and the Renovaré movement talk of the with-God life. Or like the subject of the little book The Way of the Pilgrim who tried to live a life of prayer while walking through rural Russia.
Sorry, once I start thinking, I start linking. And now, I must start the day’s journeying.
Faith Venture 
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