It's funny, my husband, can get in our car and pull down the road a bit and ask, "Have you hit a pot hole lately?" Now, why is it that he thinks it's me? lol I gotta tell ya, sometimes I see them up ahead and no matter how much I try to miss them I still end up falling in.
Life carries many kinds of pot holes. Those we are able to see up ahead and those we are blinded by. You know them. Your husband loses his job. Wham, pot hole. Your mother becomes ill and has to have a hospital stay. Wham, pot hole. It's time for your car payment, but your car is sitting in the drive way not moving. Wham, pot hole. The fridge goes out. Wham, there's another one. Your kitchen sink springs a link. They just about break you. You get to the point you don't know what else to do, but just give up. They sneak up on you and you feel the bump in the road and turn around to see what it was that made that clutter. They seem to start small and then before you know it there is a hole the size of Texas in front of you.
We too have ruts. You have seen them also. You can be driving down the road and your car gets in these ruts and seems to stay there. Well at least until you are bumped out and off the road. They seem to pull your car one way as you find yourself fighting that pull the whole way to town.
The adult store is on the left. The girl walking to work in on the right. Starbucks in down the road, that cute guy might be there. Oh, JC Pennys is having a sale today, maybe I will just break out that credit card that is already about to burst from over due funds. It seems Satan is out to catch our eyes with every trap possible.
Life can carry many kinds of ruts too. Those we get stuck in and those we continually fight against. No matter if it's a pot hole or a rut all we want to do is keep our car on the road and drive safely. We like a smooth ride don't we? It seems today as we drive down any highway we are not only on the offense but the defense. Goodness, as you are trying to get to grandma's house for Sunday dinner you find yourself weaving in and out of traffic, distracted by all that is around you, and blinded by the car now in front of you. The cell phone is ringing and your really tempted to text your son to tell him your almost there. The kids are crying in the back seat as your daughter in front says, "Are we almost there?"
Have you ever found yourself driving home and you pull into the drive after that long ride and you really can't remember how you got home? Meaning, you are so use to the same drive it's almost as though your car knows the way home.
Life can be repetitive too. We can move to the beat and go through the motions never making any change. Ever find yourself on Sunday morning just going through the motions? It's Sunday so you know you are to go to church? You leave without really feeling anything or learning anything new and blame it on the pastor or the one sitting next to you with the crying baby. But in fact, it was you the whole time. You are stuck in a rut. Maybe you have hit one of those hard pot holes and it has thrown you for a loop. So, now you just go through the motions even though you have lost your way and your passion.
We are late and we want to blame the driver in front of us. Well, maybe we should have left a little earlier in preparation of something might happen so I want to make sure I am on time. We always expect God to be on time don't we? But we tend to walk in late every where we go without thought.
We sit in traffic and honk our horn thinking the person in front of us is going to move faster if we flip them the bird or scream a few words out the window. Do we ever think that maybe there is a reason we have been slowed down? We look at it as aggravation, but what if we looked at it as a opportunity? If we only slow down long enough we will see sights that we have missed along the way. We are just always in a big hurry. Always thinking our time is more important than the guy behind us. We complain about the other cars on the road, but yet here we are also.
We are just trying to move forward. We are all trying to go some place. On our journey there just seems to be things that slow us down. We break down along the road. We run out of gas just a few miles from home. What is it that we hope? We hope that someone will stop. Someone will come to our rescue. Maybe pull us out the ditch we have found ourselves in or fill up our tank.
There is One who can and will pull us out and fill us up if we will only allow Him to. He is standing ready. He is like that AAA. He is All Mighty. He is All Seeing. He is All knowing. He is ready for action. He knows what we have passed by and He too know what is up ahead. Who better to trust for the ride?
We see the county workers lined up along the high way. There is always one with a sign telling us to stop ahead. He might be holding a sign that says, "Slow". What are they doing? Many times they are filling in those pot holes and smoothing the road for us. Sure we become agitated at the wait, but once the road is smooth again we are driving with ease.
I am learning those bumps along the road keep me alert. I must keep my eyes open at all times on guard. You never know when a deer will run out in front of you, smashing into your hood. When that happens there are always repairs to be made. It seems that whether it is the road or the car there are always repairs to be made. Even the driver needs refreshed. There is a reason for those rest areas.
Paul knows of that pot hole filled road. He was once walking on it. Everything grabbed his attention and he was pulled one way and then the other. He was so used to the road he thought it was the only way. But there was One ahead of him and knew of a better way home. For some reason or another Paul was stopped on that road. It was in the middle of the road that he was caused to slow down, come to a stop and take a good look at himself. It wasn't everything and everyone around him. It was him. As soon as he was able to take his eyes off of himself, he was able to see with new vision. What was passed him didn't matter any longer. He was on a new road now. One with a pathway that was straight. Once he found the right route he never looked back.
Friends, it might be time for a change. Maybe a new road is in order. Maybe you just need to hand the wheel over to the One who knows the road a little better and has a vision to see past the curve ahead.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding it's shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won't become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin." Hebrews 12:1-4
