Big Fat Honkin' Truck on a One Lane Road

Right in the middle of busy Suburbia is a one-lane road (each way) that helps people get from East to West more quickly than the typical stoplight-filled streets. It will usually cut my driving time by almost half, so it has become my choice route when I need to go that way. There’s a drawback, though. Many new homes and businesses are being built along this soon-not-to-be-country road, so that means lots of big, SLLOOOOOOW construction trucks. If I get stuck behind one of these, not only have I lost my “saved” time, but I actually go into debt! Not to mention, my patience flies right out the window with the time, which is where the title of this devotional came from, adjectives barely eeking through the gritted teeth of my firm-frowned mouth.

Phew! Deep breath.

It’s also true that we as Christians are on a narrow road in this life, and It is quite the adventure a good majority of the time--bends, bumps and all. Every now and then, though, a spiritual “big, fat honkin’ truck” gets in front of us, slowing us WAY down and obstructing the view along the way (not to mention our patience sometimes ☺).

Let’s take a moment lately to think about the things that slow us down on our faith journey? What sins have us on a detour? Has suffering pulled us off to the side? Do questions or doubts have us veering to the right and then the left, trying to find the right way? Has wordly pleasure taken us “downtown”?

If the answer is “yes” to any of these questions, then let’s allow the Word of God to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path through the power of the Holy Spirit:

“Whether you turn to the right or the left,

your ears will hear a voice behind you saying,

'This is the way; walk in it.’”

Isaiah 30:21

He will show us the way as we are listening to Him...

“Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where You are going,

so how can we know the way?’

Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.’”

John 14:5-6

He will be our way as we trust in Him...

“For He will command His angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;”

Psalm 91:11

He will protect us along the way as we follow Him...

“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,

and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,

who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame,

and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men,

so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Hebrews 12:1-3

He will help us run with perseverance as we fix our eyes on Him...

“This is what the Lord says:

‘Stand at the crossroads and look;

ask for the ancient paths,

Ask where the good way is, and walk in it,

and you will find rest for your souls.’”

Jeremiah 6:16a

He will give us rest along the way as we ask direction from Him...

“Teach me Your way, O LORD, and I will walk in Your truth;

Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name.

Psalm 86:11

He will teach us along the way as we are fully devoted to Him...

No matter what gets in front of us, friends, with patience, we can endure and enjoy this life! SO~~

May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a Godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the One who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence. And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

2nd Peter 1:2-4

Amen.

Please come back to visit on Friday, September 11th.

I'll have a very special tribute posted that day...

Blurry-Eyed Morning

My youngest daughter rushed down the stairs to the beat of her fear. She simply could not sleep with the “thunder booming and lightning bolts.” It was almost time for her to get up and get ready for Vacation Bible School anyway, but I hadn’t finished my prayer time yet. It was interrupted by a barrage of questions from her little mind instead.

“Mom, what if lighting struck our whole house? Where would we live?”

“Well, Sweetie, we would go to a hotel or a friend’s house until it was fixed.”

“What if it caught the house on fire?”

“Then we would be very sad, but we would find another house to live in.”

“What if the lightning hit our computer?”

“Well…we’d replace it.”

“NO! But, Mom, that’s where all our money is!”

I couldn’t help but giggle over that one. “Oh no, darlin’, our money’s in the bank.”

“No, it’s not. It’s in the computer. Daddy showed me. I have seven dollars and seventy-three cents left.”

We went round and round, but she stood fully convinced that her allowance is kept in the computer, because “she saw the money in there.” I lifted her petite frame and hugged her close. Her lack of comprehension endeared me to her.

* * * * *

It’s no coincidence that only moments before, I was having a “Who, What, When, Where, Why” session with my Heavenly Father. How creative of Him to answer my questions through the questions of my eight-year-old.

The answer is that I can’t see life through His grid. It’s a simple Truth, but I need constant reminding with my in-the-moment, literal-thinking brain.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the Heavens are higher than the earth,
So My ways are higher than your ways
And My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 (New Living Translation)

When I get to the end of what I can see through the faith He’s given me, I can count on Him to scoop me up tenderly, all the while whispering “I’m in control. Trust me.” And I feel quite certain that my lack of comprehension endears me to Him just like my Ally’s did to me.

I look forward to the day when I fully get it. I like to call it my 1 Corinthians 13:12 day:

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Until that day, I’ll choose to trust in what He sees, walking by faith and not by my blurry sight.