Unseen Roads

A few months ago, I had the privilege of traveling to New England with a good friend to simply explore and look for little wonders in a new part of the country.  That we did. Explored & appreciated little wonders.  A few times though we were unsure of the circumstances around us.  Such a time happened to be on a night driving home from an outdoor movie in Vermont.

We were driving back and it was pitch black. Not almost pitch black, but SO black that we could only see about 10-15 feet in front of our car. We were driving slow but were in the middle of nowhere, so driving fast enough to ensure that no creepy mountain dwellers could latch themselves onto our car.  When we had driven farther than we thought we should, considering that we had potentially missed our turn, we decided to turn around.  

As we turned right, into the first road that was available to turn on, our lights shown straight into a cavern pass, which we could not see through. We both wide-eyed and thoroughly freaked out immediately decided to turn around QUICK so we could get out of there!!!  As we backed up and our lights hit a road sign on that corner, to our dismay found that that WAS the road we needed. It was our road. The one to take us home. (which at the time, we thought would literally take us home.....to our death!) We sat for a second, looking at the sign, confirming that we would have to drive through that black cavernous road, even without being able to see where it was going.

Currently, I'm reading a book on the life of Abraham.  The main subject is how the faith that he had brought him into such a close relationship with God that he was later referred to as "the friend of God." (James 2:23)  This is pretty impressive, considering there is no one like God, not even close! But to be considered the friend of God is pretty significant.  Now some may say yes, but Abraham was not always faithful, he did his own will many times, but don't we all? Aren't there situations in all of our lives where we selfishly choose our own path only to realize that we were wrong and yet God still loves us and was waiting for us to turn around?  

Abraham found himself in a very bad situation, where there were five kings on one side of a great battle and four kings on the other side.  The side that was defeated, took his nephew Lot and his whole family captive.  It was at this point, that God reminded Abram of His promise to him. So Abram took 318 trained men in his service, and went out to get his family back.  Those men, led by God himself, defeated the enemies and returned the conquered kingdoms to their homes, and brought the families back to peace.  When the kings wanted to reward Abram with riches for their freedom, Abram refused because he did not want any man to have the glory that only God deserved. He didn't want any king to be able to claim that it was him that made Abram rich or great. No, Abram only wanted God to have the glory.  This is a faithful servant. Following God into the dismal future, unknowing in fearful circumstances how God would provide, but only that He WOULD.  

Going back to that moment on the road, I remember slight fear,....okay let's be honest there was more than slight fear....as we drove into the pitch black darkness.  The road was winding, terribly steep and narrow with boulders and a lurking thick forrest.  What kept us going though, was that we knew without a doubt, that this particular road was the one to take us to our home, a safe place, somewhere we could rest and relax.  But in the meantime, it almost didn't seem worth the drive. I'd rather have just gone back into town and slept in my car than to drive that road. But we knew, we knew, we knew that if we just kept going, letting those 15 feet of lit road guide us, we would eventually make it to our destination.

This seems a lot like what God calls us to each and every day. There are circumstances where we can't see the future, we have no idea what lays ahead. All we know, is that God has called us into something and we really can't back away from it. We need to just face it and try it and trust in faith that the God who has called us to it will fulfill His promise to see it through.  In John 17, Jesus said "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one...." He isn't saying we will be separated from all scary things or tough situations or dark roads, what He is saying is that He desires us to be protected against the evil one. For us to fully rely on HIM during those times and He will deliver us, just as he did Abram, just as he did Noah, just as he did Moses, just as he did Gideon, and so on and so on.  He WILL!