Recently, we drove from Michigan to Idaho to see my brother and his family. You must understand that to drive from Lawton, Michigan to Kuna, Idaho, one must possess great stamina and patience on a multitude of levels. It is about 1,900 miles, and takes 25 hours of driving to make it. Leaving at 4 PM EST and planning an 8 PM arrival the following day is no small task.
We also have four children with us in the van. Audrey is 10, Haley is 9, Brett is 6, and Madalyn is 3. After an hour in the van on May 30th, Haley proclaimed we needed to stop for a restroom. We did not. Traveling with children adds an entirely new complexity to such a trip.
We eventually stopped (I think after 3 to 3.5 hours) for a restroom. All felt better, and we continued for the remainder of the 25 hours. Somewhere in Iowa, Brett asked me where we were, and I told him. I added that we were headed for Idaho. He knew this anyway, but I wanted to let him know he shouldn't expect a quick solution to our problem of being trapped in a minivan.
His response to me was what caused me to think, and not to get after him, or scold him for his childishness, but to ponder.
After I said we were headed to Idaho, he replied, "But, I don't see Idaho."
As a parent, I could have said, "Well, of course you can't! We have 1600 miles to go and 20 more hours, and with the curvature of the earth, there is no practical way you could see Idaho even if it was 20 miles in front of us." All true, but I didn't respond that way. I don't think I said anything; however, I began to compare his response with many of my own.
God takes us in life where He wants us to go. We are young and inexperienced in existing. (Think about that) We think we know what is going on, and we think we should be able to see or grasp what the final solution or destination might be for our plans, but God in the "front seat" holds the wheel, and has the entire "lifeplan" on schedule, and destined for success when we say, "But I can't see what you're doing." As if we question which way He turns us, or the speed at which He travels. " What about stopping here? It looks nice here", we might respond.
Questioning God on his plans is worse than my son telling me that while we were in Iowa driving on I-80, he couldn't see Idaho.
We must believe that every turn, every valley, every exciting mountaintop is His plan. We must not question Him when we can't see the way. He is working in our lives. We can't stop having faith for a moment when cancer strikes, death steals, or fires, economies, and stock markets collapse. These aren't our focus. Our faith, hope, and love should be squarely focused on the God walking us through our lives in complete control just as my son should trust his father (who by the way had guided Brett to Idaho and back the exact same way twice before) to complete what he said he would complete.
The God of the universe has guided every single person who has ever existed on this planet since the dawn of time. If that is about 6,000 years ago, I know that is a lot of people. If God can handle all those people, and has never broken a promise to them or failed them in any way, I certainly trust that when He takes me somewhere that I am not familiar with, I need to trust Him just the same.
He has done this many times before, and if you are His, he'll do it for you too.
Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 33:3,
No comments:
Post a Comment