No dead end

City traffic can be a bit baffling.  I have yet to upgrade my brain from paper maps and road signs to GPS.  I suspect that, even with the spooky little disembodied voice, I’d still have some difficulty and occasional confusion navigating my way around some cities with all the one-way streets, dead ends, and whatnot.  I’m from Indianapolis, so one would think; but alas, I was born and bred a suburbanite, and therefore, city traffic still befuddles me.  I’ve ridden with cabbies in both NYC and London.  I hear it takes several years to get a cab driver’s license in the British capitol; I also read that the average D.C. driver spends up to 80+ hours per annum in transit.  

One of the main things I like about city traffic is getting out of it.  

Something for sure, though, that keeps me intent on getting through it, is simply getting home.  Now there’s a comforting thought.  If nothing else, just keep the car pointed toward “home” while everything passes into the rearview mirror, and it’ll be okay. 

Of course, it’s kinda hard to drive safely if you keep looking into the rearview mirror.

And you probably know where I’m going with this, so I’ll cut to the chase:

“What joy for those whose strength comes from the LORD, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs.   The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.  They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.”

If you’ve ever read John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, (and if you haven’t, you can download it free), you’ll understand this analogy immediately.  Because whether we admit it or not, we are all on pilgrimage to one place or another.  For those of us heading “home”, where Jesus and the family known as that “cloud of witnesses” is waiting for us, keeping that in the front of our minds is crucial. 

Especially when we head into the “Valley of Weeping”.  Gag!  I’ve been that way several times, and it’s best just to lock the doors, click on the seatbelts, and let God do the driving!  Believe me, I’ve come close to wrecking the car and getting stranded there, but by the grace of God. 

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Stranded or not, flat tires can be changed and incapacitated vehicles can be towed out. (God has His own AAA plan.) The main thing to remember is that, though we might not always be able to avoid it, we are never meant to camp out in that valley.  Whatever valley we may be in with God, “through” is always more than an option—it’s a promise.  It may not come in the way we expect, but it will come.

And what follows is even more incredible—our tears can become the fountain to refresh others when it’s their turn.

Now, THAT’S amazing grace.

 

Psalm 84:5-7  Tyndale House Publishers Inc (2008-06-01). The One Year Bible NLT (One Year Bible: Nlt Book 2)