Headed Home
…we will come to them and make our home with them.
John 14:23
On the way home from a family wedding in North Carolina,
Jamie had taken a more scenic route, wanting to take in the lush mountain
vistas.
This was the Blue Ridge chain of the Appalachians, and more
beautiful country was hard to come by. However, the narrow roads were torn up
from the rough winter the area had experienced. Suddenly, a huge pothole loomed
in his lane. With on-coming traffic, Jamie wasn't able to avoid it. The impact
almost ripped the steering wheel from his grasp, and the ensuing ‘THUD’ caused the
tire to blow out.
Remembering his spare was buried under all their suitcases and
a couple pieces of furniture Celeste’s sister had sent home with them he
grumbled, “Just great! Thirty-seven hundred feet up a mountain and no gas
station for miles.”
As Jamie was contemplating the most direct route to the
spare tire a large wrecker came around the bend. It slowed, and pulled up
beside them, “Can I give you a hand?” the bearded driver asked with a knowing
smile.
As it turned out, the wrecker was from a fleet of
full-service trucks; the driver even had the exact tire Jamie needed! Half an
hour later, new tire mounted and balanced, they were back on the road.
†
Every path in life has potholes and challenges, and Satan
does his best to make sure we don’t have a clear view of the road ahead. And just
like Jamie, we get blind-sided every now and then.
While in the midst of the struggle we can lose sight of the
truth: this is not our home, and everything we suffer now is only temporal.
Having made that point, the fact remains that temporal
suffering is miserable, and we can find ourselves taking detours that make the
journey home more painful and lengthy.
Jesus, in today’s text, reminds us to hang on to His promise
that one day soon our suffering will end, and we will be home! Until that time comes
He will continue to send help during trying times…just like He did for Jamie.
Prayer
“When I’m in the
midst of struggles and pain remind me that I’m not home yet, Lord, and give me
the strength to hang on until I get there. Amen.”
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