How Long Is That Trip Going To Take!

We can take distance for granted. You hop on the highway and at 70mph it only takes an hour to get to where we need to go. A 400 mile trip takes 6 hours, right? Or if you are out West, it only take 5 hours at 85mph. And that is if you observe the speed limits. And we all stick strictly to the speed limits, wink, wink.

So if you have looked at a map of Okinawa you have discovered that the main island is only 66 miles long. The whole chain of hundreds of islands which make up Okinawa Prefecture (their equivalent of a state) is over 600 miles long. We are on the main island. Sixty six miles long. Not that far, right?

Well, that was before we arrived. Sixty six miles. It shouldn't take us more than 1 1/2 hours to get from bottom to top. We should be able to see everything easily.

And then we arrive. The main road North and South where we are is three lanes each direction. And this is the populated section. When we get away from the population the road narrows to two lanes, and then to one.

And the traffic lights. Did I mention there are 1.4 million people on this island with what seems like 1.6 million cars! And I think maybe a million traffic lights.

Being from Florida we are familiar with Snowbirds and the traffic they bring. We are all happy when they head back up north. We can breathe as we drive. The lines are gone.

Jesus was walking with two disciples after His resurrection. They were still struggling with trying to understand the events of the previous week. Jesus opens the Scripture to them in answer to a question. He explains from the Old Testament how the events of Jesus' life fit with Scripture. But I don't know if the journey that day seemed long or short.

This I do know, after Jesus revealed Himself to them and then disappeared, something about their journey became evident. They said that their hearts had been warmed as Jesus had talked with them on the way. (Luke 24:32) We have no indication that they noticed the warming at the time. They only noticed it when the significance became evident. Jesus had changed everything.

Many of us have experience this shift in time. We have been talking with someone as we traveled and then we remark, "Where did the time go?" You arrive at the destination without really being aware that time has passed.

We have also experienced the "are we there yet" of kids, who seem to make every minute traveling seem twice as long.

I don't know whether it will be a short or long journey here on the Island, but I do know that traveling it with my wife, and with the LORD's presence will make the journeys seem short.