The Road is Impassable! It is Impossible to Pass!

While living on Bonaire we developed the habit of exploring the island in our little old Pinto station wagon. We would take any and every road, no matter how poorly marked or maintained it was. In fact we got to the point where we knew our little island home pretty well by the time we left after five years, and so when we moved to Sri Lanka we decided to continue our habit of exploring. One thing that we had learned from Bonaire days was that the most interesting places were the hardest to get to, and those were always the places we sought out.

In Sri Lanka we had a lot more challenges waiting for us when we started exploring. First there was a war on in the north. We had to be careful not to cross the boundaries in that direction. Secondly there was another group of anti-government terrorists active in the south. We also had to be careful where we went in that direction.

We went east! And we went up. Up to the hill country. And we found some incredibly beautiful places. Breath-taking places that you just wanted to sit and enjoy forever. In that country which was so full of people, we found some extraordinary places where we could be almost alone for hours at a time. Most were high in the mountains. A very few where on desolate and deserted stretches of beach. The one thing they all had in common was that you had to absolutely care nothing for your car or your comfort as you spent sometimes hours bouncing along a road that was barely passable, driving through streams and across rocks. The best places were almost always next to impossible to get to by car. In fact at times we simply parked, got out and continued by foot. And there were other times when we wished we had! We came to understand that the atrocious roads were there to see how badly you wanted to get through. They stopped most people, but if you were persistent and stubborn enough, you could come out on the other side and enjoy serendipitous serenity like no where else!

What caused me to think about these escapades this past week was as I was riding along, listening to “The Last Lecture” by the late Randy Pausch. He talks a number of times about the brick walls that we face in life. And he states unequivocally that these brick walls are there to test how badly we want to get through them. I really like that thought process, and I am afraid that I, like most people, tend to want an easy life as opposed to a hard one. I want my food quickly when I am hungry. I want to ride the train or a taxi rather than walk. I would prefer not to wait too long for anything. In fact I now hardly ever watch TV “live” because I cannot stand to sit and wait through the commercials! My hand automatically goes to the remote control and I hit fast forward before I realize what I am doing.

But it is when we encounter the places that are near impossible to get through that we will find the greatest reward. And you know what? God will bring us to the places where we just cannot make it on our own, and we may easily give up rather than relying on Him to get us through. We will think to ourselves that what we are facing cannot be what God wants for us to face. It is too hard. It is too painful. But it is when we encounter the things that we never imagined and endure the jolting, painful road through to the end, that we will gain the experience that God wants for us to have and we will look back and see how God carried us all the way.

And then we can turn and look around us and see life from a completely new vantage point. One that few others will bother ever getting to. And we can help a few other persistent souls find their way with God’s help and it will all be worth it at the end. When we can share with them something that is almost unique in this world. A quiet harvest of right living.

For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.

Hebrews 12:10-13 (NLT)