Getting there is half the fun!

     That's what I've been told through the years.  The saying began in listening to adults as a child.  I had no clue what they meant.  Even as a teen I didn't really appreciate the saying.  It wouldn't be until my adult years (yes, I'm an adult now...) that I developed my own understanding of the phrase.  For me the saying has everything to say about our mindset.  For many instances and circumstances in life there is no fun.  No surgery has ever been approached with someone thinking that the surgery would be fun, result in fun, or appear funny.  Taking out a loan for a house isn't fun even if having the house is.  Disciplining your child when you want to laugh at what they did isn't fun.  Just as there are ways to have fun; some of the paths to the fun are fraught with anger, despair, disappointment and envy.  The end result may be fun but the path there is anything but. 
     When Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit one of her emotions probably wasn't fun.  Young, teenager probably, not wed, and in a small community.  What could go wrong?  When Jesus picked the 12 there seemed to be a mish mash of different personalities, backgrounds, and even belief.  When he picked you and I, he had a plan in place that we thought we could do better with.  What fun came from that.  So, getting there is not necessarily half the fun.  Getting there can be half the struggle or half the journey but the "fun" half doesn't necessarily begin until the first half is over.  Waiting for that first half to be done can take years or even a lifetime.  I'm not known for my love of waiting and waiting certainly isn't fun for me.  Delayed gratification is along those same lines.  While I know that delayed gratification is a reality, I also know it's a delayed frustration.  The parallel to this saying is "Good things come to him who waits."  I don't like that one either.  Who wants to wait when we can have it NOW!? 
     So what is the purpose of "getting there is half the fun"?  The purpose is to look outside of yourself and your circumstances to see the bigger picture.  Sure we will have difficult days, months or even years during our lifetimes.  Sure we will be disappointed and even dismayed at the process and maybe even our expectations.  Children for sure don't like delayed gratification.  So, we do something when we should sit back and do nothing.  We push the envelope to get what we want when we want how we want.  In so doing we shift ourselves and those around who are involved outside of the perfect will of God and put ourselves into the imperfect will of Steve.  What I'm getting at is the idea that when we try to circumvent the will of God the "fun" at the end is also circumvented.  The closer I remain to the will of God in my life, the more fun life is.  Living for tomorrow is good only if we can keep the focus on what God wants in our lives.  The Bible says he wants to bless us beyond our wildest dream.  The Bible says that he will do what he promises to do.  He says he will never leave nor forsake us.  There is the fun! 
     How we get there is up to us.  We can force the agenda and be left with little or no fun at all.  We can understand God's plan and not worry about the end as we already know the end.  God has good planned for us.  He has fun in his mind for his children.