Skip to main content

Long and Winding Road

                 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:  He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. (Psalm 37:5-6) 

Yesterday, I got distracted and lazy. I addressed the first phrase of the passage I chose. Today, let’s finish the task. One of the requirements of our committing ourselves to take the way that leads to Him is that we have to trust that the way leads to Him. It’s easy to head east with a GPS or when the sun is rising in the morning. It’s harder to head east in the dark with no GPS. It’s harder still if you don’t recognize any landmarks and the night sky is obscured by clouds, but that’s the way life is sometimes. It may be the way life is often. The last road sign or the last you could see, you were on a road that said it headed east, but there have been twists and turns. Did you miss an exit? Did you somehow get turned around when you stopped for gas? (It’s happened to me!) Who expected the interstate to turn into a game trail?

I’m listening to The Last of the Mohicans and it’s a great example of this. Four whites trusted a native to take them on a shortcut. They came upon another white and two natives who revealed the deceit of the first native. The new trio took the four to a hiding place, where they heard noises they’d never heard before within their cave hideout. It turned out the noises were only the horses of the four whites, and the reason for their noise was quickly dealt with, but the noise led hostile natives to them. Have we innocently trusted an enemy? Or, have we thought ourselves betrayed by a friend and have trusted a greater enemy? Where is the cavalry when we need it?

But no, we have seen no road signs, no exits. Even if the throughway has turned into a game tail filled with mudpuddles big enough to swallow a car – even though the way seems tough, if we are committed, we are committed. We must go on to the next cross-road or wait for morning. If we’re somehow on the wrong road, we must wait for our God Positioning System to tell us to turn right in a quarter mile or stay on this road. That’s what being committed means.

And when we are committed, and when we trust, God promises that we’ll see the sunrise, and while some of the road we can see seems to lead away from it, in the distance, the road resumes its eastward journey. What’s more, as you take the journey, the things that hinder, entangle, and besmirch you will be removed, so that you can take hold of your reward, and so that charges laid against you will be proven to be without merit. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more