The Great Door

1 Corinthians 16:5-9
After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you—for I will be going through Macedonia. Perhaps I will stay with you awhile, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.

These words have jumped off the page and have hit me square in the face.

Paul writes to the church in Corinth about coming to see them and staying a while. His destination is Corinth; however the Lord is clearly opening a "great door" in Ephesus for him now. He explains to them that if God permits he will be with them, but for now God has opened a great door to do effective work.

For years I have thought of "destiny" as the arrival part of life. I think we all have asked God, "what is my destiny in life", or "God show me my destiny you have for me." But I see in this scripture that Paul has learned something that we may not recognize; that there is a vast difference between "destiny" and "destination."

Here is the key insight: Destiny is the journey getting to your destination.

Think about yourself when you were a kid, or maybe even your own kids, on the way to grandma's house. Every 15 or 30 minutes that famous question pops up, "are we there yet?"
Why do they (we) do this? Because they (we're) so focused on the destination that they (we) forget how to enjoy the journey.

I'm looking forward to sharing some insights on this subject starting in 2009.
God has opened my eyes to a great door before me.
A door of destiny that He has opened for effective work.

God Bless and Happy New Year!