A Bend in the Road

If the Christian life is a journey then the road we travel is often hard and always uniquely our own. Cathy and I will be traveling the Alcan highway this month as we make our way from our home in Wasilla to our home in Beaverton. The highway is legendary. In the "old days" it was quite an adventure to travel the thousands of miles of gravel and dirt and sometimes pavement. Now the gravel and dirt are mostly gone but it is still an adventure. Cut right through the heart of some pretty rough and very remote wilderness it can still be dangerous. Even so, we are really looking forward to the journey.

But, I don't think that the road we travel as Christians is like the Alcan. For one thing, even though the Alcan is very remote, somtimes a sturggle and sometimes thrilling, it is still a highway. Someone has blazed the trail for us. In the case of the Alcan it was a couple of guys on motorcycles in the 30's. Someone followed them and planned the path of the road. Workers followed and cleared a very rough access road then more workers came with bigger equipment and widened and smoothed out the dirt path. Finally, over the past 40 years, others have come and paved the road making it usable by thousands. And every year workers move up and down the highway repairing cracks, potholes and frost heaves.

All these people have worked so hard just so Cathy and I will have a realitively safe journey through the rugged wildeness (awfully nice of them.)

But the journey we are on as Christians is much more...private and...unique. The path is ours alone and although we may meet others along the way and even journey side by side with others from time to time we can honestly say that noone has journied the road before. Actually one person has. Jesus.

Psalm 139 paints a beautiful picture of what it is like to walk with Jesus. I know that ususally you think of Psalm 23 when you think of the spiritaul journey and that is also a very lovely picture of the journey, but 139 shows how we are not alone on this journey. It talks about how our God goes before us and leads us down the path. At first the picture is of God as a scout in the distance makeing sure the road is safe, then it shifts and shows that he is right in front of us protecting us. At the same time he is right behind us protecting us and moving us forward. We are hemmed in on all sides by God. He not only choose the road for us but he also had cleared it so we can see the path. And just in case we are worried about having to journey alone, Psalm 139 also paints a picture of the impossibility of ever getting away from God even if we try to stray.

The path God leads us down leads through a vast array of landscapes. Lush green meadows, dark valleys, high glorius vistas and deserts so dry we'd like to fall over and die. Yet we do not walk alone so even if we fall we are gently picked up and put on our feet again. And when we would like to stop and just rest a little bit longer in lush and beautiful places Jesus gently urges us forward, often toward harship, dissapointment and loss. I beleive he wants us to find the beauty in those places as well. The beauty is there, if only in the loving eyes or our Savior who sometimes has to carry us for a stretch.

My own journey has recently led to a hairpin turn (Cathy's word for it). At first I was confused by it and then I was even heart sick. Why would God lead me to a place with so much beauty and potential only to turn around and head back. Yet as time passes and I prepare to set out down the Alcan, the place where this hairpin curve leades, I am hopeful. At the very least I know that I will not be alone. My saviour is at my side. My defendor is behind me, my Lord is before me leading me on.

Ironically my last talk to the students at Wasilla Bible Church was about the journey. I wanted them to know that the road ahead was amazing and hard. I wanted them know, before some of them set out on thier own, that the journey was grim and beatiful; difficult and easy; painful and a blessing. I can't help but think how appropriate that message is to me now. I never want to turn away from the path that God has set me on. I never want to give up or stop or settle for an easier path. The path that God is leading me on is narrow and uniquily mine.

My prayer is that you will see our saviour leading you down your path. Perhaps we will run into each other along the way... just around the bend in the road.