The Small Victories of Life are Found in the Journey, not the Destination

This is a guest post by Ailie Baumann

Some years ago, a TV series was aired on our local TV channels called Going Nowhere Slowly. I didn’t watch much of this series because I was still a teenager entering the wonderful world of adulthood, so my interests were not really on the pleasures of a slow life.

Quite the opposite really. Up until just recently, I have always being frustrated with the slowness of life and the length of the wilderness moments in life. I couldn’t wait to get to the destination of whatever it was God had for me. I was one of those people whose happiness hinged on the next big thing: I’ll finally be happy when I’m married or My marriage will rock when I have kids and so on.

I found that the pain of waiting was greater than I wanted to bear. I suppose that’s typical for most of us. Waiting for God to bring us into all that he has for us or to bring that breakthrough we’ve been fighting for brought to the surface all those insecurities and doubts that we have towards God and his goodness.

We begin to doubt that he really heard our prayers or actually cares about what we are going through. We often miss the reality that God’s best for us, while different, will exceed our imaginations, hopes, and dreams. In fact, His best is going to be better than anything we could have wanted.

The small victories of life

As God took me on a journey of inner healing and encountering his goodness and heart, he began to show me that the small victories of life are the key to understanding his kindness and goodness. If we are constantly rushing to the destination, we don’t get to savor the scenery of our surroundings, so to speak. We whiz past the one our hearts are crying out to. Those acts of kindness, grace, and mercy that are disguised as small victories of life go unnoticed while our dismay and disappointment arise from a hope that has become deferred.

What if, we slow down and change our focus? 

Maybe, God doesn’t really care as much as we do about the destination because it’s a given.  He is going to lead us right to that destination and victory because he is a good Father and we are willing to work with him.

To me, the destination is the future. Although God is eternal and outside of time, he is a God who is present in the here and now. He is here with you, today. Today becomes yesterday and tomorrow becomes today. So, our lives become a book of sequential small victories of life woven together into a glorious story of testimony, success, and wonder. The book is the destination, but it’s the small victories of life that make it so wonderful.

Encountering God in the small victories of life

Although I can’t tell you much about the TV show, Going Nowhere Slowly, what I can tell you is that the main presenters would get in a car and cruise around the US (I think that’s where they were based). We need to do that in life.

Let's slow down. It's time to take our mind off the destination and look at what God is doing today.

How did God answer you, today?

What acts of kindness did you experience, today?  

As you slow down and focus on the present, you’ll begin to see God has been ushering in a whole series of small victories. Like a lover romancing his beloved, the Lord is using the small victories of life to woo you into a deeper level of intimacy and encounter with him. This is his heart and his goal.

Fun exercise to become aware of your small victories

If you are struggling to identify the many small victories that God has brought your way, the following exercise may be helpful to you: 

Take a pen and paper. Think back over your life for the past five to ten years. Write down where you were then and what has changed for the better since then. Ask God to show you how he has been working in your life from then till now. 

Next, write down where you would like to see yourself in the next five to ten years. Include the promises God has given to you.

You can write your answers or you can create a life map with a picture of yourself in the center, your past to the left, and your future towards the right.

How has God proven himself faithful and good in giving you a list of small victories throughout the past few years?

Hi there, I'm a passionate lover of Jesus, wife, mom of three boys, and author of Pen Paper Paint (www.p3alive.com). I love to share my life and love for Jesus with others in the hopes of inspiring them toward a deeper relationship with him. I want to share the realities that Jesus is intricately involved in our everyday life. I love chocolate, drawing, music, and sushi. My goal in life is to love others wholeheartedly.