When the Road Gets Rough

It is not always easy to turn this rig around and sometimes I just have to keep on going until I find a place that I can safely exit the highway and turn my motorhome back the way it is supposed to go.  Yesterday as I was driving through a small town in NC I found myself looking at the houses and people and not truly paying attention to the road in front of me.

You guessed it, I missed my turn. This was not the first time I wasn’t paying attention to my GPS, and I know it won’t be the last.  Instead of getting bothered I safely switched lanes and made the next turn intending to backtrack on another street. After a number of turns into parking lots, dead ends, and roads that simply circled back I decided to go back the way I had come only to discover that not only was the part of the road I needed to go down a one way – the opposite way – but apart from a three point turn there was no way for me to get out.

I won’t go into the details of the less than graceful turn around but eventually I remembered my GPS and with a chuckle I rerouted it and found the way to my original destination, a little frazzled but no worse for the wear.

Have you ever noticed how life can be like this? A wrong turn, a frightening diagnosis, the phone call we all dread, and suddenly that smooth road is no longer in front of you but instead you find yourself in a maze of helplessness. You feel discouraged, frazzled, feeling like you are going to fall apart and that you don’t have the strength to continue.   A helplessness that, if allowed will overwhelm your thoughts and fill your mind with lies meant to destroy.

But do you want to know something? God doesn’t leave your side! In Deuteronomy 31:8 it says, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

He goes before you! He is beside you! He is guiding you and helping you and will give you strength. Because of Him you are stronger than you think you are. You have a promise from the creator of the universe that he will not fail you. Hardships will come and there will be times when you feel lost and helpless, but just as the GPS was right there available for me to lean on, the Lord is there and He wants you to fall into His presence and lean on His strength.

1 Chronicles 16:11 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually.

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