Are You on a Mission or Journey?

I was having a conversation with a friend about redoing my kitchen, telling her the story of my visit to the kitchen store with my husband. I relayed to her how my husband was dumbfounded at how the process of selecting a new kitchen was taking so long. Now, admittedly, I did take longer than the average person because I loved everything, but my indecision aside, it is a process! Once you find the cabinet color you like, you have to select the style. Then, once the designer prices out your dream kitchen, you have to decide if it’s within your budget. Which, of course, mine was not. So, back to the drawing board.

For me, I enjoyed the process. My husband found it arduous and grueling to sit there for two hours and keep looking at the same things. I spent another 20 hours on my own, shopping and researching colors, styles, and choices.

What my friend pointed out to me was that I was enjoying the journey while my husband was on a mission.

He is more mission-minded. He walked into that store with one mission in mind – to buy our cabinets. I walked into that store ready for the fun journey of redesigning our kitchen.

Are you on a mission or a journey?

 

My conversation with my friend got me thinking about other areas of my life. Did I view them and approach them as a journey or a mission? And what, really, is the difference? The dictionary defines a mission as “an important goal or purpose that is accompanied by a strong conviction.” A journey, on the other hand, is defined as “passage or progress from one stage to another.” I reasoned that it depended on what I was engaged in or attempting to do that determined if it was a mission or journey. Some things do require a mission-mindset. Others should be a journey, something to be enjoyed and to take extra time doing.

Then I got to thinking about life in general. Is it a mission or journey? Or both?

I reasoned that my mission was to tell others about Christ, while my journey was to grow deeper in my relationship with Him.

The Bible tells me that I have been made for the specific purpose of becoming more like Christ and telling the world about Him. Therefore, my goal in life should be to be more like Christ and to tell others about Him, and it should be accompanied by a strong conviction to do so. Thus, my mission.

My journey, on the other hand, should be to progress in my relationship with Christ from infancy to spiritual maturity as I strive to be more like Him with the Holy Spirit’s help.

What happens if my life only consists of missions? Or, conversely, if my life is just a journey? I think we need the balance of both. I think that we need to be mission-minded so we have strong convictions while we journey through this life. But we don’t want to only be mission-minded and miss some of the blessings God places along the way. For example, the designer that we purchased our cabinets from allowed us to pray for him. What a blessing we might have missed if we didn’t enjoy the journey with him!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Question? 

We're here to help you!

CONTACT US

This is the one thing that will help you find what you need.

Drop us your name and email so that we can send you the Align Life Strategy workbook. 

Scroll to Top