Traveling On

Road Work!  How often would we see that sign on our journey across four states, going to and coming from a loved one's funeral. Sometimes the wait from a clog of traffic merging into a single lane seemed interminable. But it inevitably cleared up, if only to happen again a few miles down the road!

In order to avoid Tulsa, where we had often encountered detours that our GPS knew nothing about, my husband suggested a back way, and I agreed.  It took longer, and the way was not always smooth.  But once we got on I-40, we were set for the remainder of the trip. But first, we had to face the gauntlet of traffic in the corridor between Memphis and Little Rock.  It is a nightmare of trucks and speeding vehicles, almost bumper to bumper.

"This is my kind of driving," Howard said when we'd had a reprieve by skirting Nashville.  We'd never taken this shortcut before, but the route was a pleasant one of scenic hills and valleys with sparse traffic. It was a far cry from the steep mountain grades we'd been on earlier.  The runaway truck ramps spoke for themselves as the gravel-covered emergency escape lanes ending on a hill or incline stopped trucks when brakes failed.

These scenarios remind me of our journey through life, when it seems we are frequently experiencing road work!  Even for Christians, the road is not always smooth.  Marriages have rough patches. Families go through things.  And it often seems as soon as one crisis is over, another one appears.

How wonderful when we have periods of smooth sailing!  The hills and valleys of life can be sweet as we experience God's blessings and times of rest. Psalm 84:5-6 says, "Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them, Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools."

In other words, when we go through the valley of weeping, which is what Baca means, we can make it a well to collect God's showers of blessings instead of a place of desolation and arid ground.  Our family has had the loss of a loved one recently when our oldest grandchild passed away unexpectedly. We have been in a valley of weeping.  But we take comfort in remembering the good times of Joshua's life, and especially in the knowledge that he is in a perfect place with his Savior now.

Sometimes it seems difficulties come as thick and fast as runaway trucks in steep mountains of trouble. But God has provided an escape lane. "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world..." II Peter 1:4.

We can take heart, going from strength to strength  (Psalm 84:5) and glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). Now that is a glory road!