The Great Circle Distance

We often use the expression, as the crow flies.
It is an idiom meaning, the shortest distance between two points.
The shortest distance aerially.
Not necessarily the shortest distance on land.

The great-circle distance is another story.
Key West and Pensacola, Florida are examples of this.
As the crow flies, the distance between the two cities is 524 miles.
However, the shortest route by land is 792 miles.

Sometimes we must go a round about way to get to our destination.

We may look at a map and see the route we need to take.
Often there are detours and obstacles that change our plans.
One route is often shorter than another.
Shorter however may not be the best way in the long run.

My husband had a phrase that he always said to our children when they began to drive.
With multiple drivers who needed to share a car, planning was required.
Coordinate schedules, was what he always said to them.
Sometimes that was possible but often it was not.

I remember listening to my children as they worked this out.
One person’s music would be listened to on the way to the destination.
The other person’s music would be listened to on the way home.
They learned the art of compromise in the big things and in the little things.

As the crow flies is not always possible, especially in life.
Point A to Point B should be a direct route.
But life throws us curves along the way.
How we respond to those detours says quite a lot about us.

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, been exposed to death again and again. I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. (2 Corinthians 11:23-30)

God knew all that the apostle Paul would have to go through as he spread the Gospel.
As the crow flies, may be easiest for us, but it may not be part of God’s plan.
An indirect route may be more of what He has in mind.
An indirect route that causes us to encounter more people along the way.

For God it is always about relationships.
Our relationship with another person.
That person’s relationship with God.
The Gospel often spreads by way of the great circle distance.

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

We see it all the time.
Battling in the public square: man’s law vs. God’s law.
Defeats abound.
Appeals that take the battle to the next level.

Defeats that hinder the, as the crow flies, mentality.
Defeats that cause us to go the great circle distance.
The great circle distance that show us what we are made of.
The “stick-to-it-tive-ness” for His sake, because it is the right thing.

The great circle distance makes what would have been seemingly silent, visible.
The great circle distance is never the path we would choose.
Often, it is the best way to showcase His Glory.
Sometimes the end result is secondary; it is the journey God cares about the most.

We have to remember this when praying for someone to come to Christ.
As the crow flies is rarely the route that is taken.
There is only ONE WAY to the Father in heaven and that is through Jesus.
There are, however, many ways to Jesus.

The path that leads to Him may be a long one filled with obstacles.
That is often not an accident.
If we get in the way and smooth out the path, we may miss something extraordinary.
Something extraordinary that only God can do.

The great circle distance.
Not as the crow flies.
More miles, more people.
Point A to Point B, God’s way, for His Glory.