I live in Indiana. That means our winters are usually made up of freezing and thawing, freezing and thawing, freezing and thawing, and more freezing and thawing. Combine that with several other factors-the use of salt or some weird combination of ice melt; lack of money; heavy trucks; school buses (not so much the past 2-3 months); and (in our case) miles and miles of graveled back roads-and you have a problem called potholes. I’ve been driving around a lot lately and I’ve (unfortunately) ran over some potholes that have threatened to swallow my truck or at least put in the “I-need-an-alignment” stage. This is especially true on the gravel roads I’ve traveled. They jokingly say the Indiana state flower is an orange cone.
But what really gets me is how a newly paved road or highway doesn’t take long before it begins to show signs of stress fractures, and cracks, and little holes, and even break-offs. Say what? They just finished it and it is already squirrely.
There have been times in my Christian walk when all was good. I was firing on all cylinders. My heart was in the right place; my Bible reading was alive; my worship was vibrant; my “spiritual eyes” were wide open; my trust factor high, and I wished for it to never end. And I foolishly thought or hoped it wouldn’t. I wanted to stay there. I can’t and won’t because the walk of a Christ-follower is one of ups and downs; highs and lows; ins and outs; climbs and descents; and mountaintop and valley experiences. Like the newly paved asphalt which over time shows signs of stress, so does my faith. And yours.
No. I can’t stay there. While roads develop those annoying potholes, stress cracks and break-offs, those times of cracks and stress and break-offs are designed to help me grow. It’s unrealistic to expect to stay where God and I are in sweet communion. I can’t avoid the potholes but with God I can navigate through them to much better roads.
“Father, it is easy to forget You are in the lows, the stresses, the potholes and the break-offs as much as You are when the road is smooth. Help me to trust You to navigate me through the mess called my life.”
Me, too, LORD.
Amen
The potholes in life remind us how much we need to depend on and trust in God. He is always with us, no matter what kind of road we are navigating.
Blessings, Bill!
So true Martha. I’ll take Him any road, any time.
During this pandemic, I said I will keep my eyes on the Lord, I will draw even closer to him. I’ll study my bible more, I cannot wait to see my growth during this time. There are times I have felt, so on track, really had my eyes opened. Then comes the days, where I’m just sick of all of this, I’m over all the circumstances, I hate the tag line we are on in this together, I’m a pouty, crabby mess, but only the Lord can see it, cause I’m in the house alone for week nine, ten where ever we are. Lord, I need your navigation on high, thanks for always provided it, pushing back on track.
But even though there are those times when you feel weighted down Gail, you will be able to come out on the other side and see you have grown and your relationship with God is deeper. He promises that.