CAUTION: WINDING ROAD AHEAD!
I’ve been thinking about roads lately and the important role they play in our day to day living. Roads lead us to many places.
When I was in grade 7 I entered an art contest. A local radio station asked children to submit a drawing. Every Friday, for 6 weeks, they gave a prize to the week’s best entry. The theme of my drawing was the Wizard of Oz – Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Lion, and the Tin-man walking down the yellow brick road. I coloured the drawing with a brand new pack of pencil crayons - it looked really good – I put it in an envelope and sent it off to the radio station.
The following Friday, the day they announced the week’s winner, I was glued to the radio…and guess who won that week? Me!!!!! The first prize for each winner was a trip for two to Florida -flight and accommodation for 5 days and a pass for two to Disney World! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go. I vowed that one-day I would make it to that sunny place where blue skies, palm trees, and white sand meet the warm Atlantic Ocean. 7 years ago I made that trip… Shirley (my wife), Emily (my daughter who was then 8 months old), and I crammed into our jam packed Chrysler Acclaim and headed south. We drove up and down the endless miles of the Pennsylvania-mountain-roads.
In Tennessee we drove along forested roads and encountered fog so thick that at times we couldn’t see more than two or three meters in front of us. Just on the outskirts of Tennessee we stopped for dinner at Taco Bell. I got food poisoning and thought I was going to die before reaching my palm trees. After a roll of Tums, a small bottle of pepto bismal, several washroom breaks and what seemed like an eternity of strong abdominal cramps I spotted my palm trees and the welcome sign to Florida – we made it!
Roads are an important part of our lives. They lead us to church and they lead us home. Roads lead us down the street to our neighbour and across town to work. They lead us to the bakery and to the gym. They lead us to the ice cream parlor and to the park for a leisurely stroll. Some roads lead to sunny destinations lined with palm trees and others to snow covered mountains. Roads lead us to the hospital to celebrate the birth of new family members and to funeral homes and cemeteries to remember loved ones. Roads lead us to warm family reunions and also to courtrooms where heated custody battles take place.
There are all kinds of roads: Long roads and dead end roads; paved roads and gravel roads; level roads and rolling roads; winding roads and straight roads, smooth roads and bumpy roads.
Recently as I was looking through my Bible the topic of roads and journeys captured my attention.
· In Genesis, Abram, a wealthy, comfortable, established man trusts in God and sets off on strange unfamiliar roads to an unknown land and an uncertain future. (Genesis 12:1-5) The journey he took led him from independence to dependence upon God, from barrenness, infertility, and unfulfilled dreams to being the fulfilled father of a great nation.
· Also in Genesis we find young Joseph journeying from the comfort of his father’s home to a pit of envy and onto slavery in Egypt. Many years later his family traveled along those very same roads to Egypt where experienced forgiveness and life!
· In Exodus we find Moses leading the nation of Israel out of Egypt, out of slavery, along roads built by their own sweat and blood.
· Later on we find the Israelites on a dead end road. They were stuck between an angry sea and the fast approaching Egyptian Army. That road which seemed to be a dead end was miraculously extended through the sea as God parted the waters allowing His people safe escape.
· Later on in the Old Testament we find A very young man travelling along a road to bring food to his older brothers who were battling the Philistines. That road led him to a place where he honoured God and became a hero by defeating the Giant Goliath.
· Later on we find a road leading three faithful young men into a fiery furnace because they chose to follow God no matter the cost. In the same area of the Old Testament we find another man being lead along a road to a lions Den.
· In the New Testament A road lead Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem
· A road also lead soldiers to homes where innocent children were murdered.
· A road lead Mary, Joseph and Jesus to safety in Egypt.
· Many years later we read about a great celebration as Jesus traveled along a road into Jerusalem riding on a donkey.
· A road also lead Jesus to His trial and finally to the place of his crucifixion.
· Along a road headed north towards Damascus one of the greatest enemies of the Christian faith ran into a divinely appointed roadblock and from that experience became the greatest voice of Christianity. That experience changed that man’s name. No longer would he be called Saul the great enemy, but Paul the great Apostle.
· There are many, many more roads in the Bible
· The final road mentioned in the Bible is found in the second last chapter of Revelation - there we find the description of a great street found in heaven, a street of gold, a street that will usher all of God’s faithful children into His presence where there will be no more pain, no more tears and no more death!
There is a common theme that strings all these passages together and that’s this: No matter what the road, no matter where it leads, God’s people never travel alone! God himself not only accompanies his people but also guides them and prepares the way for them even when the way seems to be blocked by a massive barricade like a huge violent sea and an angry Egyptian army.
Where are you today in your journey? You may not know where you’re headed, you may not know what lies ahead, you may be feeling lost. God’s promise is that we never travel alone! That truth alone is cause for rejoicing! God is present with us no matter where we are headed.
Lets look briefly @ Psalm 23. This Psalm is about travelling down the road of life with our Good Shepherd. Typically this psalm is read at funerals. I believe it has more to say about living than dying. As we travel along the road of this Psalm lets see what we can thank God for today.
Turn with me to Psalm 23 (Read the Psalm). This Psalm reveals at least four things we can be thankful to God for. From this Psalm we learn that God is:
· our constant companion (v.1)
· our guide & provider (v.2-3)
· our protector (v.4-5a)
· our “blesser” (v.5b – 6)
1. God is our constant companion: THE LORD is MY SHEPHERD, I shall not be in want!
The LORD “Is” not was, not will be, not “I hope He is”, and not “is sometimes”, but simply IS. God IS our Shepherd. I am told you can’t shepherd a flock of sheep from a distance; a good shepherd leads from a close distance. The one constant we can be sure of in life is that THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY the creator of the universe, the GOD who created us IS with us. Nothing gets to us before it first goes by HIM. As one radio personality likes to put it (Steve Brown) - “nothing happens to us until it first passes through His nail scared hands.” We are not alone, we do not face life’s difficulties and challenges alone and that is something to be thankful today. The LORD IS our SHEPHERD!
2. The next thing we can be thankful for is that God is our guide & provider (v.2-3). “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul”.
· The first thing we see is that The Good Shepherd MAKES us lie down. He is the one guiding, leading, and bringing us to the place where we need to be. Left on our own we wander. God knows what’s best for us and there are times when he actually forces us to lie down – He makes us lie down. Sometimes an illness or a trying situation is actually prepared by God in order to make us slow down and even stop. Running around with huge “to do lists” and over booked planners is not healthy. God will on occasion bring us to our knees, so that we can remember what our priorities need to be. Today we can thank God for bringing people and circumstances into our lives, which make us stop and re-evaluate our priorities.
· Secondly, God – our guide and provider leads us beside still waters and HE restores us: God brings us healing and refreshment.
· Where are you today? Are you in need of a quiet place? Are you thirsty? Is life more challenging than you thought it would be? Are you searching for something, for meaning but just can’t seem to find it? Do you find yourself saying, “Man, there’s got to be more to life than this.” I know I do. This past week was crazy. Late nights, early mornings, unrealistic deadlines, unhappy clients, grumpy children, and one edgy father – in one word: Chaos. The quiet drive out here along the tree-lined 401 was my quiet waters, I spent time in God’s presence and was refreshed; I didn’t say much, we don’t have to. Some times all God wants us to do is simply enjoy the moment with Him.
· This time of the year is so beautiful (Fall). Where do you like to go to find some peace and quiet? Make some time to be alone with God and allow Him to restore your soul. Spend some time relaxing and enjoying the moment. God knows we need tranquil moments to keep from going insane. For our physical, emotional and spiritual health we must make time for tranquil moments. Today lets take time to thank God for those moments and places of quiet waters where our souls find rest from our hectic pace.
3. God is our protector we read “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”:
Whether its travelling through dark valleys – times when we face scary circumstances when all hope seems to be lost - or times when our enemies seem to be prospering at our expense - God guarantees his presence and His protection. Our Good Shepherd is in control.
As we journey along in our “valleys of the shadow of death” we don’t need to fear evil for our Good Shepherd knows where we are and He is close beside us. He doesn’t lead from afar. The good shepherd is right beside us; some times behind us pushing and carrying us along, some times offering a helping hand, other times he offers a pat on the head, a touch of affection, a caring embrace. The Good Shepherd leads and guides from close proximity - we don’t travel alone.
The first part of verse 5 tells us that when our enemies come knocking God is there beside us. Our enemies take on many forms. People at work, people at home, our past, sometimes our bad habits. For the Christian there is also a spiritual enemy - Satan and his demons. Some times we give the devil too much credit for our problems. Blaming all the troubles we face on him simply isn’t realistic. But there are times when we are being attacked by evil. During such times remember this story: Frank Perretti a popular Christian author once described how the enemy no longer has the ability to harm us but still has the ability to frighten us. A family was on vacation; back in the days when air conditioning in a car meant everyone had their windows down. As they drove along, a bee entered the vehicle. One of the children started to scream - she was deathly allergic to it’s sting. The father, maintaining control of the vehicle reached back and grabbed the bee in mid-flight and pulled his hand forward. The little girl could see a small tear trickle down her father’s cheek. A few seconds later the father opened his hand and out flew the bee. Once again the little girl started screaming. Her dad calmly said to her, “you don’t have to worry any more dear” He reached his hand back towards her and continued “ look here sweetheart, the stinger is in my palm. (PAUSE)
My friends that’s exactly what God has done for us through His Son Jesus who suffered and died on the cross. He has personally taken the enemy’s lethal blow. Nothing can separate us from God’s presence now. Nothing comes our way before first going through his nail scared hands. The enemy can make lots of noise, he can a times intimidate but always remember the stinger is in Jesus’ palm!
In life we can complain about our difficult circumstances and allow ourselves to become victims of our problems and challenges or we can look at the same situations and grow and mature as a result of them. I’m not saying that it will be easy – who ever said that life was going to be easy? but we can decide how we will respond to life. Our perspective greatly influences how life’s challenges will impact us. Barbara Johnson puts it this way in the title of her humourous book, “Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional”. When every I begin to feel sorry for myself and start thinking I have no control I remember my friend Hazel who is confined to a wheel chair. She’s an amazing Christian. She broke her neck in a swimming accident when she was a teen. She “had” a promising future and in split second her life was turned upside down. It took time but eventually she realized that she one of two options – be miserable and bitter for the rest of her life or with God’s strength she could choose to face her challenges with a positive attitude. Hazel will warm your heart as she tells you of how God has healed her. Yes she’s in a wheelchair but her spirit and attitude soar higher than many who have no physical challenges. God promises to see you through your tough times – He did for Hazel, He’s done it for me, and He’ll do it for you too!
The final point:
4. God is our “BLESSER” - “You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
When all is said and done we’ll all look back on life’s challenges and see how much God has blessed us. How he has carried us, how he has cared for us. Oil is used in Scripture to represent God’s presence and blessing- the Psalmist is telling us that God is blessing us moment by moment, day by day. With His presence with us, our cup overflows! We get so concerned about what we don’t have, caught up with what we want, that we fail to recognize, appreciate, and enjoy what God has already blessed us with. Some once said "Don’t grieve that your roses have thorns. Rejoice instead that your thorns have roses!"
Where are you in your journey?
Where is your present way of living taking you?
A wise person once said (Steven Covey) We are all so busy in our pursuit of climbing the ladder of success that we rarely ever pause to determine if the ladder we are climbing is up against the right building. When we loose sight of God, we begin to focus on things, which in the end don’t amount to much.
The truth we’ve discovered today is that God is our companion, our guide and provider, our protector and our blessing. God directs, and redirects our steps. He accomplishes this through detours, dead ends, roadblocks, and on occasion He opens a miraculous path - all this is part of His plan for getting us Home. Our arrival in his Eternal Home is His top priority and nothing will keep Him from us.
AMEN!
