We began thinking about a special journey almost a year ago. It started with a invitation from my brother and sister in law to join them in Glacier National Park. My brother in law made the initial reservations and we put the dates on our calendar.
The planning for this journey has been a little overwhelming since there are so many choices to make about what we want to see. There is excitement but also some fear: we are going to places we have never been - we are driving - we are tent camping for part of the journey - we will be a long way from home - we will be gone longer then our usual camping trips. Even with all the reading and planning, we have made a few mistakes and changed our plans accordingly. We have done many things to prepare for our new journey - read several books and lots of websites, joined AAA, talked to people who have been to the places we plan to visit, and purchased some new camping supplies and clothing.
One day last week in the midst of planning Psalm 84:5 was part of my prayer time. It made me think about how preparing for this journey is like the the journey we make toward a deep and strong relationship with our God. We need to have a destination - to set our hearts on God. We need information about the journey and we have His Holy Word and wonderful books written by Christian scholars that help use understand His Word. We need a community like AAA - we have our church family to look to for support and encouragement.
It is these things we do to prepare for our journey that let us move forward with more excitement and less fear of the unknown along our way. As Psalm 84:7 continues the idea of a pilgrimage "They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion." We don't know exactly what we will see on our new journey to Glacier National Park and we don't know exactly what we will face in our pilgrimage toward God. But we do know that God promises to move us from strength to strength through His Word and the fellowship of our church as we journey towards him.